Tiny Feet
by pachirisu
Summary: It all started as an accident, but now they have to deal with another person in their relationship. IkariShipping.
1. Surprise!

She was eighteen and he was twenty-one when it happened.

They weren't dating, exactly. It was more of an _arrangement_ , but neither of them was complaining, so it continued. The whole thing started out as an accident, to be honest. They were both drunk and feeling sorry for themselves, and then they just _went with the flow_ , as she would later describe it.

Dawn Berlitz was a former Pokémon Coordinator, and won the Kanto Grand festival aged sixteen. She decided to retire after that, going into the fashion business, another thing her heart had always been in. After two years of struggling to get her feet of the ground, she was suddenly launched to fame, with the help of her Loppuny. So this unexpected _development_ in her life was not particularly welcome.

The other half of this problem lay with Paul Rebolledo. His training methods had been questioned by many over the years, but he proved to be one of the strongest trainers in the country. He constantly came second in competitions, but finally, at twenty years old, he had won the Lily of The Valley Conference, and in a weird twist of fate, became the Sinnoh League Champion. As such, he was constantly busy, and had a lot of pressure placed upon him.

Both trainers lived their lives in the spotlight, so it was no wonder they were somehow drawn to each other. They knew each other from before- when she was ten and he was thirteen they had travelled across Sinnoh, and occasionally bumped into each other. Dawn resented him, however, because of his rivalry with Ash, and the way his thirteen-year-old self trained his Pokémon. He had no interest in the contest circuit, so he never paid much attention to her. In fact, he could barely recall her name until they were older. 

* * *

It started when Dawn spent half an hour bent over the toilet on a Tuesday morning. She phoned in sick to work, but didn't think anything of it. She didn't usually get sick, but it flu season, so it didn't come as too much of a shock.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Johanna asked, concerned about her only daughter's sudden illness.

"Yeah. I probably just ate something weird yesterday. No need to worry!" Johanna gave a wry smile in response to Dawn's enthusiastic response, and offered her more tea. Dawn had curled up on the sofa underneath three layers of blankets, and was feeling very sorry for herself.

"What did you eat?"

"We had hors-d'oeuvres, and I think there was some kind of fish on them, so that might've been it."

"You're not allergic to fish," Johanna pointed out, but Dawn just shrugged.

"Maybe it wasn't cooked properly."

"Maybe."

The topic of illness was dropped, as Dawn didn't seem to be sick again. However, the next morning, she found herself in the same situation as the day before.

"Dawn, seriously, are you okay?"

"I don't feel okay, mom. I just threw up my guts," Dawn deadpanned, flushing the toilet.

"Dawn, you don't think you could…"

"No."

"I didn't even finish my question, dear."

"I can tell what you're going to say, though."

"I was just offering up a suggestion. But if you're convinced, then there's nothing I can do to change your mind." Johanna left the bathroom, leaving Dawn alone on the floor.

These planted a tiny, tiny seed of doubt in Dawn's mind. They _had_ been careful, hadn't they? She had insisted on using a condom every time, since she wasn't on the pill (she had never complained much about periods before). But… well, now she was paranoid. She grabbed her Pokétch, scrolling through the apps until she reached the calendar. Thinking back in her head, she counted back to her last period. One month… two… and a week. She threw her Pokétch across the room, it sliding out onto the landing. She held her head in her hands. This couldn't be happening, not to her. She was only eighteen; she had so much she wanted to do!

She got up, splashing cold water over her face in an attempt to snap her out of it. It didn't really work, but she left the bathroom anyway, picking up her discarded Pokétch on the way to her bedroom. Dawn grabbed her bag from the floor, throwing her Pokétch, phone and purse into it, before running down the stairs.

"I'm going out."

"You're sick," Johanna reminded, but Dawn was already at the door.

"I'm aware."

"Don't do anything stupid."

"When would I ever?"

* * *

Dawn hated doctors. It wasn't even seeing the doctor that bothered her, but waiting to go in. The waiting room was always filled with old people, and she generally felt that their illnesses were ten times more important than hers. There were also people that looked sick, and Dawn always felt awful if she got called in before them. And of course, today was one of those days. Doctor Jules appeared from his room, clipboard in hand and a name on his lips.

"Dawn Berlitz?" Every head in the room turned to her as she stood up, crossing the room with her head held high. She sat down in the seat in front of Doctor Jules, and she finally relaxed.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked, clicking through various files on his computer.

"I… well…" She fiddled with the hem on her top, not really willing to say what was wrong. "I think I'm pregnant," she whispered, so fast she could barely even hear it.

"Ah. Well, you're probably right then. Women tend to be correct about these things. Have you taken a pregnancy test?"

"No. I panicked and just came here."

"Fair enough. Well, I'm sure you know, but to test for pregnancy, we do a urine test. So if you could, take this, and pee in it, to put it bluntly. There's a bathroom at the bottom of the corridor."

"Thanks," Dawn said, as he handed her a polystyrene tub and lid.

She left the room, heading towards the bathroom. She locked the door, then double and triple checked it just to be sure. Peeing on command was a lot harder than she originally imagined, and after a few minutes of trying, she finally managed to get something into the tub. The bluenette left the cramped room, heading back to the doctor's office.

"Great, thank you. I'll pass this through to the nurse for testing, okay?"

"Okay." He disappeared for a second, coming back empty handed.

"You'll know soon enough!" He sounded enthusiastic about this, but Dawn was anything but. "I have some questions I'm required to ask you… when was your last period, if you can remember?"

"Two months ago, roughly."

"And… when was the last time you engaged in intercourse?" Dawn winced at the word. It wasn't what she was expecting to hear, but she answered anyway.

"About two and a half months ago. I don't see him a lot," she quickly explained. She was hardly going to tell her doctor that they weren't even dating- that was a step too far.

"Okay. From this information alone, I think that it's quite likely that you are in fact pregnant." Great. A nurse appeared from the side door, holding a piece of paper in her hand.

"The results, Doctor."

"Thank you, Carol." He scanned the sheet, before setting it down on the table. "Congratulations, Miss Berlitz. You're pregnant!"

* * *

Dawn stormed home, slamming her front door and stomping up the stairs. She threw herself onto her bed, covering her face and resisting the urge to scream. This was not part of her plan. Okay, she always liked the idea of having kids, but not at her age! When she was ten years older, maybe! When she wasn't in the middle of creating herself as a person, she might've considered it! But it was happening now, and she was going to have to deal with it.

She had to tell her mom. She had heard her fumbling about downstairs, and it was only a matter of time before she came upstairs asking questions. Her mom would be okay- she would accept it, because she cared about Dawn more than anything. Telling Paul would be another whole problem. This wasn't something he would take happily to- the two of them were for fun; he had confirmed this on multiple occasions. She didn't see herself having a life with him, and she seriously doubted he wanted to be with her.

As if on cue, Johanna appeared, a mug of tea in each hand.

"Want to talk about it?" No, she didn't, not really, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm pregnant! Surprise! You were right!" She held her hands out to receive her tea, and Johanna passed it over without a word. "Please say something," Dawn begged, after a few moments of silence.

"Who's the father? I didn't think you were dating anyone."

"I just didn't tell you," Dawn sighed, sipping her tea. She hoped her lie wasn't too obvious, but this was the sort of thing her mother picked up on. "His name is Paul."

"Not the Sinnoh League Champion, Paul?"

"Yes, that Paul exactly. He used to be one of Ash's rivals, so I knew him back in the day."

"Well… have you told him?"

"No. I'll do it soon though. I just need to be mentally prepared."

"Do it today," Johanna said solemnly.

"Why?"

"The sooner you get it over with, the better you'll feel."

"I know. But… what do you think?"

"Well… it's not ideal, of course, but I know you'll make a good mom. And hopefully, I'll be a good grandmother."

"Thank you," Dawn said, wrapping her arms around her mom. Johanna patted her on the back, before speaking up again.

"Now, phone him."

She left the room, leaving Dawn with a mug of tea and her sorrows. Dawn considered phoning Paul and just telling him that way, but decided that would be the asshole way of doing it, and she should do it face to face. She picked up her Pokétch and scrolled through the contacts until her finger was hovering above Paul's name. She reconsidered her options, but decided she needed to do this.

"Hello?" Came the response from the other end, and Dawn had to restrain herself from squeaking in fear.

"Hi, Paul, it's Dawn."

"Oh. Uh, can you phone back later? I'm kinda busy."

"This won't take long."

"I'm in a League meeting, and they're giving me weird looks," he hissed, and Dawn rolled her eyes.

"This won't take long."

"Hurry up, then."

"We… um, we need to talk. Tonight, if possible."

"Okay? Where do you want to meet?" Dawn recoiled slightly in shock. She barely even expected him to answer the phone, never mind agree to meet with her.

"Would the restaurant in Sunyshore be okay? At seven."

"Sure. Is that not really far from you, though?"

"It'll be fine."

"Okay then. See you there." He hung up after this, and Dawn flopped backwards on her bed. She definitely had to do it now- there was no going back.

* * *

After an hour of trying on outfits, Dawn picked a baby blue knee length dress. She had to look somewhat appealing, but sexy was not something she was going for this evening. She grabbed a clutch, throwing everything in it, and heading out.

"I'm leaving, mom!"

"Good luck, dear!" Came the response from the kitchen.

Dawn called out Togekiss, and jumped on her back. The Jubilee Pokémon ascended, and Dawn finally had a spare moment to calculate what she was going to say to Paul. Just announcing that she was pregnant wasn't going to cut it- she had to be subtle, and not just blurt it out. She landed in Sunyshore much to quickly for her liking, and calmly returned Togekiss to her Pokéball. The restaurant wasn't too far from the Pokémon Centre, and she made it there to see Paul leaning against a column outside.

"You look nice," he commented.

"Thanks."

They took their seats in the restaurant, food being carried out to them almost as soon as they sat down. Ah, the perks of being famous. They ate the meal mostly in silence, Dawn politely refusing wine when it was offered to her.

"So… what did you want to talk about?"

"You're not going to take this well," she said, trying to prepare him the best she could for the news.

"You… want to stop all this?" She closed her eyes tight, hoping and praying that he would take what she was going to say they way she wanted.

"Paul… I'm pregnant."

* * *

 _AN: Okay! So I've been talking about this for a while, and here it is, my first multichaptered PokéAni fanfic! IkariShipping is very important to me, and this story is based around a personal headcanon of mine. Hope you enjoy, and please leave a review! c:_


	2. Decisions

"You're what?"

"You heard right."

"What do you mean… it's mine? There's no way- we used protection every time!" Paul spluttered, setting down his knife and fork.

"I know, but sometimes these things happen!" Dawn exclaimed, trying her best to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes from rolling down her face.

"I can't do this."

"I wasn't expecting you to _do_ anything, I just thought you should know."

"There is no way I can raise a child," a flustered Paul said, running his hand through his hair.

"I wasn't expecting you to!" Dawn shot back, raising her voice slightly. "I'll be the one doing the raising, I'll be the one doing everything! I just wanted you to know," she finished, her voice lowering again.

"I'm going to pay the bill. You should leave."

"Fine. Thank you for listening." She snatched her clutch up off the table, and hurried out of the restaurant.

* * *

Dawn was never really one for keeping her cool, so when a picture of her and Paul was on the front cover of _The Sinnoh Mail_ , she almost destroyed her bedroom. The lamp was torn off the desk and smashed on the floor, and the chair that went with the desk was tipped over in her rage. The picture was clearly taken from near the beginning of the date, but she spotted the words 'heated argument' later in the article, and prayed that the journalist didn't hear what the argument was about. There was a close up shot of Paul later one, and Dawn assumed it was from when he left, a good ten minutes after she had.

Part of her wanted to rip up the paper, another part wanted to show it to her mom, and a third part wanted to just lie down and cry. And of course, her brain assumed that the third was the best option, so she just fell back onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. This was probably the worst thing that had ever happened to her, and soon the whole country was going to know about it. It wasn't as bad for her- Sinnoh had forgotten about her in the past few months. Although she was still involved in the fashion industry, she had quit the contest circuit, and that took her out of the spotlight a lot. Dawn felt sorry for Paul though, if word got out about him making a _teenager_ pregnant, he would never hear the end of it. He had only just become the champion, and this would ruin his reputation.

Dawn had fervently believed that sleeping it off would've helped, but she only felt worse. She woke up to three missed calls, all from Zoey, who had presumably seen the _Sinnoh Mail_. She wasn't in the mood for talking to Zoey, especially since her red headed friend wasn't the biggest fan of Paul. Any hint of romance (if she could call it that) would be frowned upon, and Dawn was not looking forward to the inevitable lecture.

She rolled out of bed and onto the floor, where she lay for a moment, considering her options. She had to go downstairs, and tell her mom that Paul was having none of it. That was another lecture she didn't want to sit through, but she assumed that it was best to get to over and done with.

The bluenette padded downstairs, tying her hair into a messy bun on top of her head. She could hear muffled voices from the living room, and assuming that it was just the TV, she went ahead into the living room. She was stopped in her tracks by the shock of purple hair at her sofa. _Paul._ He looked over at her when she came in, and she immediately left the room.

"Dawn!" She heard her mother call, and she sidled along the wall and back into the room, taking the seat beside her mother and opposite Paul.

"I hear this is… Paul?" She asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "Your boyfriend."

"Uh, yeah." This was news to Dawn, but she went along with it regardless. "Yeah, he is." She said, shooting him a look.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, getting to his feet.

"Sure," She said wincing at how cold her voice came across. She followed him outside, glancing over her shoulder at her mom.

"You made it quite clear how you felt last night. Why are you here? And how did you find my house?" Dawn barraged him with questions, but he silenced her with a glare.

"This situation isn't ideal."

"No shit."

"Last night, I was stressed. I mean, this isn't something you get sprung upon you every day. And I didn't react the best."

"No shit," Dawn repeated, wondering where he was going with this.

"So I'm here…to apologise. And to make amends."

"Amends?"

"So, like… well, I told my brother, and he said that this was the right thing to do, and he's always right, so…" he suddenly dropped to one knee, pulling out a box he had stuffed in the pocket of his jacket. "Will you marry me?"

Dawn stared at the ring, at Paul, and back to the ring. He couldn't be serious. This was part of some elaborate plan, and they were being filmed for a prank show. The TV Crew would appear any more, and she would be humiliated on national TV.

"I can't say yes. This is empty, Paul. I know for a fact that you don't… you don't love me."

"How do you know?"

"You've never said it, for a start," She pointed out, but Paul raised an eyebrow, pushing himself up from the ground.

"Neither did you. But I know you love me."

"I don't," she denied, her eyes flashing to the ground.

"You're lying."

"How do you know?" She challenged, using his own words against him. Instead of answering, he leaned down and closed the gap between them, crushing his lips against hers. This was the first time he had kissed her like this, and Dawn felt herself giving in to him, and kissed him back. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her slender frame closer to his. She was about to give in completely, when she pulled away, taking a step away from him

"I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do," she said, looking up to him.

"I think it is," Paul confirmed, taking her hand.

"Okay…. Okay. But if I change my mind, you need to let me go, okay?"

"Fine by me." He ran a hand through his hair, looking away from her. He took the box back out of his pocket, and slid the ring onto her ring finger. Dawn admired it- it was simple, yet made a statement. Silver, with tiny diamonds encrusted on it, and a slightly larger diamond in the middle.

"We should tell my mom," Dawn said, glancing at the door.

"Sure."

He took her hand, which was unusual for him, and helped her into the house. They walked into the living room, where Johanna was still sitting, clearly waiting for the news. She sat up straighter as they sat opposite her, resting her hands on her lap expectantly.

"We…" Dawn started, fiddling with the band around her finger. "We're going to get married," she finished, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm as she could.

"Oh, Dawn, that's great! I'm so excited for you. You'll look lovely as a bride, even if it's a little earlier than I would've liked you to be walking down the aisle."

"It's a little earlier than I would've liked," Dawn admitted, "but it's happening, so… Well, I'm glad you're supportive at least. That's a huge weight off my chest."

"We should tell Reggie," Paul suggested, and Dawn nodded solemnly. "He'd want to know as well."

"That's fine with me! Dawn, you might want to present yourself a little better if you're meeting Paul's family."

"I've met him before. I doubt he'll care," Dawn said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, he'll be so excited he'll not be paying attention," Paul mumbled, and Dawn had to stifle a laugh. It had been a long time since she had seen Reggie, but she knew that was exactly how he would react.

"Well, off you go then! Dawn, be back for dinner, okay?"

"Sure thing!"

* * *

They flew to Veilstone in silence, Dawn staring down at Togekiss's wings. The mid afternoon sun glistened off her feathers, and the girl ran her hand through them absentmindedly. Veilstone was a while away from Twinleaf Town, but they arrived before sunset, Paul leading Dawn to where he and Reggie lived.

It was a cute house, in Dawn's opinion, with a green roof and grey exterior walls. Paul only grunted when she commented on it, and it was clear that he didn't really enjoy where he lived. He unlocked the door, and within seconds of him stepping inside the house, Reggie had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and welcomed them.

"Paul! And Dawn too! Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too Reggie!" Dawn greeted happily, stepping in line with Paul.

"Why don't you two come in to the living room? I'll get some tea and cake!"

"He's friendly," Dawn commented, following Paul into another cosy room, where she sat down beside him. "I'm surprised he hasn't changed that much since I last saw him."

"I'm surprised you remember when you last saw him," Paul sneered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Some of us have a half decent memory."

Reggie returned to the room, a tray of mugs in one hand and a plate of cakes in the other. He handed out the mugs- the black one for Paul, the green one for himself, and the light blue (which looked almost unused and was clearly for guests) for Dawn. He then sat forward, waiting for the news they inevitably had for him.

"So?" He asked enthusiastically.

"I took your advice," Paul said, glaring into his coffee.

"Good! So…"

"We're getting married," Paul replied, meeting Reggie's eyes.

"I'm so glad," Reggie smiled, and Paul rolled his eyes.

"You'd be pleased even if I told you Dawn beat me up," he mumbled, but Reggie didn't seem to hear him.

"Let me see the ring," he asked, and Dawn held her hand out to him. "Lovely. Nice choice, Paul. Didn't think you had such good taste."

"I have better taste than you," Paul quipped, and Reggie laughed.

"I'll believe that when I see it."

* * *

In an odd show of his gentlemanly side, Paul offered to take Dawn out for a walk that evening, so they could 'talk'. Dawn understood that this was practically code for 'explain what's going on', but she accepted his invitation anyway. He took her hand, and they walked through the emptying streets of Veilstone.

"I'm sorry this all happened," Dawn offered, but Paul just shook his head.

"It's as much my fault as it is yours. In fact, it's probably more my fault."

"Well, now you know how I feel. I'm not really ready for a child to be honest, Paul, but it's happening, and I'm gonna have to raise it."

"I'll help. Well, I'll try." He almost laughed at his own comment, and Dawn smiled in return.

"Thanks. Although, I don't know how much you can do."

"I'll… well, I can support you financially at least."

"You don't need to do that."

"I should, though. I mean, what else am I going to do with my money? I still live with my brother, and I had no intentions of moving out."

"Had?" Dawn questioned, and Paul stared at the ground.

"Well, since we're getting married, do you not think we should live in the same house?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"We can't be married and live in separate houses," Paul deadpanned, and Dawn slowly nodded her head in agreement.

"I guess you're right. We should probably live somewhere over this side of the region. I mean, it's closer to where you work."

"What about your work?"

"You really think I'll be working with this?" She said, gesturing to her stomach. "I mean, I can still design things from home and send them in, but I don't think they'll really want me there to model." She giggled slightly, and Paul smirked in response.

"We can think about that later. We need to think about weddings first."

"It should be soon," Dawn blurted out. "I mean, you wanted it before the baby comes, right? Well, I'm two months pregnant already, and I don't want to look fat in a wedding dress."

"Is that your main priority?"

"Yes," Dawn admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Fine then. I'll look into places we can get married tomorrow."

"Okay." Dawn glanced at her Pokétch, seeing that it was already after seven. "I should go now, though. Mom said she wanted me home for dinner."

"Uh. Okay. I'll… phone you tomorrow, then."

"Fine by me." Dawn took a brave step towards Paul, and lightly pressed her lips to his. "Thank you. Bye!" She called her Togekiss out quickly, and hopped onto her back quickly before Paul had a chance to respond.

The purple haired boy stared at her as she flew off, awestruck at the speed in which she had changed her opinion of him.

* * *

 _AN: Not too happy with this chapter, but I promise next weeks will be better! Please leave a review and tell what you think though!_


	3. Warning

Wedding planning wasn't something Dawn imagined herself doing aged eighteen. Maybe when she was in her twenties, maybe even later. She'd barely ever thought about her wedding dress- okay, this was a lie, dawn knew what she wanted from she was five, but none of the other details had ever crossed her mind. Planning a wedding was one thing, but planning a wedding for the Sinnoh League Champion who didn't want to cooperate on a very short timescale was a whole different story. It wasn't that Paul didn't care. He did- otherwise he wouldn't have suggested the idea. He just didn't have any ideas in common with Dawn, and it was driving Dawn mad.

"So… where is this actually gonna happen?" She asked, tapping her pen against the paper.

"There's a nice hotel in Eterna."

"I know the one you're talking about, and… well, I've been there before, and it's not that nice."

"Fine. What about the one in Hearthome?"

"There's about fifty in Hearthome," Dawn pointed out, gaining an eye roll from Paul.

"The one near the contest hall. It's called the Crown Prince, or something."

"That one would do, I guess."

"Great. I'll go phone them." Paul left the room, and Dawn listened intently while he talked on the phone to whoever was on the other end.

This wasn't even the first argument they'd had about this the whole time they'd been wedding planning. They were currently cooped up in one of the offices in the Pokémon League building, where Paul had requested Dawn visit for the time being. It was clear to Dawn that he never bothered to clean the room, as there was food wrappers scattered about the floor, and the desk was covered in official looking papers. Paul reentered the room, and set his Pokétch on the desk.

"They said it's okay. I booked the third of next month, if that's okay."

"Sure," Dawn said, managing a weak smile.

"You can probably go now. I think that's all we're gonna get done for today," Paul said, making half an attempt to tidy his desk.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah."

Dawn grabbed her bag from the floor, and made a hasty exit from the room. Any of these planning sessions with Paul were enough to make her want to tear her hair out, but making decisions like the actual date of the wedding without consulting her made her blood boil. Okay, if he'd said "How about the third?" she probably would've agreed, but that wasn't the point.

It seemed to take forever to get home on Togekiss, and Dawn made a mental reminder that it was in fact very important that they lived over this side of the region if she was expected to go up to the League often. It was a pain to get there and back from Twinleaf, and it was dark when she landed in the middle of the town square.

"I'm home!"

"Dawn!" Johanna appeared from the kitchen as Dawn took of her coat. "How did it go?" Dawn rolled her eyes, following her mom into the kitchen.

"I mean, it was okay. We got a date planned, and I think we're gonna do invitations and guest list tomorrow."

"When's the big day, then?" Johanna prompted.

"Third of December."

"That's in three weeks."

"I know."

"You need to get a dress."

"We can do that the day after. It'll be fine, mom. I know people, don't forget."

"This is going to be very rushed."

"I _know_ , mom. But it'll be fine. I'm gonna go upstairs and call May, okay?"

"Okay. Dinner will be ready in half an hour!"

Dawn ran upstairs, and threw herself on her bed. Paul was a pain, okay, but she could relieve her frustration by talking to May. She had always known what to do and what to say when Dawn called her about boy problems, so Dawn knew that she would at least listen to what she had to say.

"Hello?"

"May! It's Dawn."

"Hey! Let me guess, boy problems?"

"Right as usual!" Dawn giggled, her friend lightening the mood for her.

"Okay, so spill. I'll listen, you talk."

"This is a bit more serious than usual. I don't think you've ever met him, but there's this guy… called Paul."

"Wait wait wait. Paul? As in, Paul Rebolledo, the Sinnoh League Champion?"

"Yeah."

"Dawn, what are you messing about with! You can't just like, date the champion! That's not how it works!"

"Apparently not, because apparently the champion can just propose to you and you're expected to get married to him without any consequences at all!" Dawn burst out, and then covered her mouth reflexively. She hadn't meant to say all that, but it had come out her mouth in one go without her really having much control over it.

"Why are you being forced to marry him? It's a free country. You can do whatever you like!"

"Yeah, I guess, but…"

"But? Why is there always a but?"

"Well…"

"Oh, come on Dawn, just spit it out!"

"I'm pregnant," she said spitting the words out as if they were poison.

"Oh, Dawn," May said, her voice dripping with pity.

"I don't want your sympathy, May. I just want to know what to do."

"I don't know… if you feel like you should marry him, you should go ahead with it. But… well, don't take advice from me! I'm across the ocean. There's not much I can do."

"Will you come over for the wedding?" Dawn asked nervously. "I'd really like you to be my bridesmaid."

"Of course I will! What sort of friend would I be if I wasn't there?"

"Thank you, May! It means a lot to me. Well… I'm gonna have to go. I've got dinner, and I'm pretty sure Paul will phone me to complain about one thing or the other, so I should go."

"No worries! Phone me any time, Dawn. We need to catch up again soon!"

"Sure! Bye, May."

"Bye!"

* * *

Dawn dragged herself over to the Pokémon League again the next day, where Paul had not only bought invitations, but had compiled a guest list of about twenty people.

"I want it to be small," he said, using that as an excuse.

"Well so do I, but most of these people are friends of yours. I mean, do the Elite Four have to come?"

"They asked."

"Well, they can come in the evening, but not for the dinner."

"Fine." Paul scratched their names off the list, making four free spaces.

"Who have you written down as coming for me?"

"Your mom, Kenny and Barry. They're your friends right?"

"Well yeah, but they're not top of my list for people to come. Who are you having as your best man?" Dawn asked, glancing over the list for herself.

"Reggie," Paul said simply, and Dawn kicked herself for asking such a stupid question. Paul didn't really have any friends, so his brother was an obvious choice.

"Right. Well, I want May, and Zoey is gonna be my maid of honour, so you can put her down in the place of two of the Elite. Did you put Ash and Brock down?"

"No, why would I?"

"Because they're my friends, and I know for a fact they care about you too. So write them down too."

"Fine. That's twenty people, then," Paul said, crossing his legs.

"Good. Do you want me to help write invitations?"

"You write envelopes and do stamps."

"Fine by me."

They sat in silence for the next forty minutes, writing their respective parts. When all the cards were inside the envelopes and piled up nicely, Dawn lifted them and put them in her bag.

"I can post them once I get home. It'll save you the hassle."

"Okay. By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What?" Dawn set her bag down on the floor again, folding her arms.

"Are you free tonight? There's a league party thing, and apparently everyone else is bringing their _significant other_ ," Paul said, making quotation marks in the air for emphasis.

"I guess I can make it over. What time at?"

"Eight, at the contest hall in Solaceon Town. Don't ask me why they picked there, it's more of a mystery to me than anyone else."

"Don't you get to make decisions on these kind of things?"

"Nope. It was Fantina. She's head of the Gym leader's Association or something. I don't know. I'm just here for the battles."

"That's such a you thing to say," Dawn commented, staring down at her lap.

"Yeah, well," Paul said, looking out the window. "I like battling, but not paperwork, or attending fancy dinners."

"Did you not expect that when you said you'd take the position?"

"Not as much."

"Ah." An awkward silence fell between them, and Dawn hastily gathered up her belongings. "I'll be going. Gotta look good for tonight!" She said, adding a wink at the end of her sentence. "See you later."

"Bye, Dawn."

* * *

Eight o'clock rolled around a lot quicker than Dawn would've liked, and she found herself standing outside Solaceon Town's contest hall. This wasn't her favourite place in the world- not by a long stretch. Solaceon Town itself brought back a lot of memories that she would rather keep repressed, and even thinking about entering the hall made her feel sick to the stomach. She frantically pressed some buttons on her Pokétch, getting Paul's number up on the screen.

"Hello?" Came the voice from the other end, and Dawn could hear that the party was in full swing behind him. It didn't sound anything like she assumed it would- she had imagined a formal dinner, but this sounded more like the Pokémon Stylist parties she was used to.

"Hey, it's me. Uh… can you come get me?"

"Have you not left Twinleaf Town?" Paul sighed.

"No, no I'm here, just… outside. I don't really want to walk in on my own."

"Fine. I'll be out in a minute."

"Thanks."

She hung up after that, leaning against the wall of the building. She tugged on the hem of her dress, hoping that she wasn't too overdressed. She had opted for something plainer- a light blue tea dress with a chiffon skirt. She had turned up overdressed to parties before, and was praying on every star in the sky that she looked okay. The automatic doors slid open at that point, and Paul stepped out.

"Are you okay?" He asked, seemingly concerned for her well being.

"Yep!" She managed, smiling despite the anxiety settling in her stomach. "No need to worry!"

He offered her his arm, and she slipped her own around his. They walked into the building and up the stairs, where Dawn assumed the party was taking place.

"You look nice," Paul commented, causing Dawn to flush a pale pink.

"Thanks. It's not too over the top, is it?"

"Have you ever seen Fantina?" Paul deadpanned, earning a soft giggle from Dawn.

"I guess you're right."

The doors swung open for the couple, as if whoever was on the other side could hear them coming, Dawn immediately managed to scuttle away from the centre of the room, and headed for the back corner. Here, she felt more at peace, but she knew if Paul hung about, people would come over to ask her who she was.

"I know you!" Came a voice, and Dawn internally cringed. "You're Zoey's friend!" She looked up to see Candice, and smiled that it was someone she actually knew.

"Yep, that's me! My name's Dawn," she reminded, and Candice shook her hand enthusiastically.

"I remember! Zoey talks about you all the time. I was gonna bring her today, you know, as my plus one, but she didn't want to come. She'll kick herself when she finds out you were here? Why are you here?"

"Uh, I'm with-"

"She's with me," Paul said, making his presence known to Candice.

"Ah, Paul, you always make me laugh. You and her? No way. She's way out of your league."

"Actually, we're together," Dawn said, managing a laugh. "Surprise!"

"What? No, this isn't real. No way! Zoey is gonna flip when she hears this, you know?"

"I'm aware," Dawn said, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"I'll go get you something to drink," Paul said, promptly excusing himself from the conversation.

"He is so rude!" Candice exclaimed, grabbing Dawn's arm. "What do you even see in him? He's honestly an asshole, Dawn. I heard before that he slept around a load in the last year. He was always seen coming out of hotels in the morning wearing the same clothes as the night before. No one knew who he was with, though, so I can't really comment."

"Really? I'll ask him about that some time," Dawn said, thinking that it was most likely her that was this mystery girl.

"Wait!" Candice said, lifting Dawn's hand up to inspect it.

"What?"

"You're not… getting married to him, are you? Please tell me you're not, Zoey's gonna flip!"

"Well… yeah, we are. And this has nothing to do with Zoey. She's entitled to her own opinion."

"I'm phoning her right now. You have to tell her!"

"No way! Like you said, she'll flip! I sent her an invitation though, she'll find out tomorrow for herself."

"Zoey's not gonna let you go ahead with this, Dawn," Candice warned, her voice low and dangerous.

"I'll do it anyway."

"I'm just saying. If you're serious, you're going to have to convince Zoey."

* * *

 _AN: Please tell me I am not the only person who ships Zoey and Candice in this story they're totally gay for each other fight ME_


	4. Coffee

Snowpoint City was probably Dawn's least favourite place in the entire Sinnoh region. She wasn't a big fan of the cold, and the constant snow made her want to throw herself off Lake Acuity. But Zoey was here, and she was probably the only good thing about the snow-covered city. So Dawn flew up on Togekiss, read to face the inevitable.

She had decided it was probably best to talk to Zoey and deliver her invitation in person, since Zoey was the type of person who would just ignore any and all post that came in through her door. Dawn was thankful that her friend lived with Candice- the gym leader was at least semi-organized, and had begun to rub off on the redhead. Landing in Snowpoint, Dawn took a deep breath, heading for Zoey's house. It was near the temple, and therefore Dawn had to trudge through the snow for twenty minutes before she reached the cabin.

"Hello!" Candice called, swinging the door open almost as soon as Dawn had knocked on it.

"Hey, Candice. Is Zoey here?"

"Sure is! You left pretty early yesterday, Dawn! Is everything okay with you and…"

"Sh sh sh! Yes, everything's great! I really need to talk to Zoey though, so can I come in?"

"Yeah, go on ahead. She's in the dining room doing… well I don't know what, but something. Knock before you go in and it should be okay."

"Thanks."

Dawn noted that the interior of their house had changed since she was last in it. There were new sofas; light blue, covered in blankets and cushions. The TV was in the same place, but there was fairy lights hanging around it. There were new ornaments set on the windowsill, and Dawn noticed Zoey's contest ribbons were framed on the wall, right above her Ribbon Cup. She wandered through to the dining room, giving a short knock on the door before entering.

"Hey, Zoey."

"Hey, Dawn! Long time no see! Take a seat, take a seat!" Zoey exclaimed, pushing her laptop and books out of the road and pulling out one of the dining room chairs for Dawn, who sat down gratefully.

"How have you been?" Dawn asked, setting her bag down at her feet. "I heard from Zoey that you're teaching a coordinating class at the school! That must be pretty exciting."

"It is, I guess. I mean, it's going well, but it's a lot of hard work," Zoey said, gesturing towards her laptop.

"I can imagine,' Dawn laughed, before setting her mouth into a firm line. "Zoey… we need to talk about something."

"Candice told me this would be coming. Well, go ahead," Zoey commented, crossing her arms.

"Well… you're not going to like this one bit, but I'm going to say before I start that it's happening whether you like it or not."

"Oh wow. This sounds… intense."

"Well… I'm getting married. And I'm here to give you the invitation. You can bring Candice if you want. He says he doesn't mind."

"You're… you're what? You can't be serious Dawn. You're only eighteen. Marriage?"

"Yes. It's… well, it's what I want to do."

"You weren't even dating anyone," Zoey pointed out.

"Not that I told you of," Dawn huffed, pouting slightly.

"Who is it then? Who is 'he'?"

"You're not going to like this, but… well, I'm sure you've seen it in the magazines and stuff. We've been all over Coordinators Weekly, unfortunately."

"No. You can't be serious? You, the princess of Sinnoh, marrying… marrying _that_?"

"You say that as if he's some sort of Magikarp."

"Let me make sure we're talking about the same person here. You, Dawn Berlitz, are marrying Paul Rebolledo, Sinnoh Champion?"

"Yes."

"He looks like a Politoed."

"I don't know what Politoed you've been looking at, Zoey."

"I won't let you," Zoey said firmly, glaring at her friend.

"You can't do anything about it, though. My mom thinks it's a good idea, and Reggie, his brother, is all for it. I'm just here to deliver the invitation. It thought it would be better if we actually talked face to face, rather than me just send it through the post."

"What brought this on? You weren't even seeing him, Dawn. It was completely out of the blue."

"I was seeing him," Dawn mumbled. "It was… well, not dating in the traditional sense, put it that way."

"So what, you were like a booty call?"

" _No,_ Zoey, it was not like that. It first happened when we were drunk, and we were just having fun after that. He's actually pretty sweet wen you get to know him."

"And what, all of a sudden he just dropped down on one knee and professed his undying love for you one day?"

"Kinda. Sorta." Dawn looked down, not a hundred percent willing to tell Zoey the whole truth.

"Dawn. Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell!" Dawn said, waving her hands frantically. "Honest, Zoey, there's no need to worry!"

"I know what's going on, Dawn," Zoey said with a dejected smile. "Your surprise wedding, which I can guess is in like two weeks, your unwillingness to tell anyone about anything, the fact that you and Paul weren't actually dating, and the fact that you're wearing about sixty layers."

"It's cold," Dawn interjected.

"Not that cold."

"And what do you think is going on?" Questioned Dawn, almost glaring at Zoey.

"You're pregnant," Zoey said with a shrug, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe. Dawn didn't reply for a moment, and Zoey pulled her chair closer to her, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. "It's okay, Dawn. These things happen. It's not you fault."

"It was stupid, Zoey. I never should've done it. I never should've drank that night, and maybe we wouldn't be in this situation."

"There's nothing you can do about it now, though. You just have to… well, get on with it. Marry him if that's what your heart says to do. Have the baby, and hopefully you can live some sort of cutesy idyllic life."

"That'll never happen Zoey. He's permanently in the spotlight, and I'm not too far away from it myself. We'll be forever on the front cover of magazines and newspapers, and that's not a life I want to live. I don't even want a baby! I didn't plan on having children until I was like, thirty!"

"You sound so horrified."

"I am. There is a tiny tiny person inside me right now, growing. And they're making me cranky and hungry and sick and I hate it."

"How far along are you?" Zoey asked pulling her laptop towards her and typing in the web address of a new mom's site.

"Three months."

"From what I've heard, it gets better after the first trimester. That is, of course, until you're so big you can't leave the house and then you have a baby and you look awful for the rest of your life," Zoey teased.

"Zoey, please don't even joke about that. My looks are one of the only things going for me."

"Not your talent at coordinating or Pokémon Styling? Not your brain? And now you've got a ridiculously rich fiancé, so you don't need to worry about anything."

"Zoey, please."

* * *

Dawn always pictured her life as some fairy tale since she was young. She romanticized everything- she would wake up to Starly singing, and her hair would be flawless as she went downstairs to a banquet of breakfast. She would've been one of the most desirable people in the land, and eventually her knight in shining armour would come in and sweep her of her feet and they would live, of course, happily ever after.

Her current situation was the antithesis of this. Instead of Starly, she got squawking Wingull, instead of banquets she got one slice of toast, and instead of her ideal knight in shining armour, she got Paul, who thought that eight thirty was an acceptable time to phone her at.

"Did you speak to Zoey?" He demanded, not returning her hello with a good morning or anything of the like. They were in the same time zone and all, for Arceus' sake!

"Yes, thank you, good morning Paul how are you? I hope you slept well how are you feeling today?"

"Sorry. Do you want to get breakfast? We can talk there, if you want. I'll come to Twinleaf."

"No, go to Jubilife. I'm supposed to be dress shopping with my mom at twelve, so I guess I can do breakfast. I'll be there in half an hour, okay?"

"Sure."

Dawn hung up without even saying goodbye; see you later, or anything of the like. Her frustration was reaching it's peak, but she tried to convince herself that it was pregnancy hormones and marrying Paul was definitely a good idea and she did definitely like him. She threw on high waisted jeans (probably the last time she ever could, she lamented) and a striped sweatshirt, balancing herself in wedge heels, before deciding that would do because she was already marrying Paul and she wouldn't let him change her mind. She raked a brush through her hair and brushed mascara onto her eyelashes before grabbing her bag and running out the door.

Thankfully, Jubilife City was only ten minutes away on Togekiss, and Dawn managed to find the tiny café Paul frequented without trouble. He was sitting outside, soaking up the last f=of the summer sunshine, and had already ordered her favourites- a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant. She had told herself that she was most definitely going to eat healthily while pregnant, but she couldn't turn down food that had already been bought for her.

"Morning," Paul offered, raising an eyebrow.

"Good morning to you too," Dawn said, sitting down on the chair opposite and crossing her arms.

"I'm guessing from your tone you haven't seen this week's Coordinators Weekly?"

"No, why? I didn't think it came out until tomorrow."

"It doesn't, but they rushed the publication because of a big story. No prizes for guessing who it's about," Paul said, finding a copy of the brightly coloured periodical in his bag and setting it in front of Dawn. There was an old photo of the two of them, from one of the first parties they were at together, taking up the majority of the front cover. They were positioned beside each other, but they were engaged in completely different conversations, and clearly hadn't acknowledged the other's presence. Below the picture were the words 'baby scandal' in capital letters, and a small sub heading informed the reader that they were due to get married in a few weeks. Dawn's mouth feel open, and she set her coffee down on the table.

"I didn't say anything, I promise. I've told my family and friends, but I trust that none of them did this."

"It's fine. I don't know who did it, or who found out, but at least we can rest in the knowledge that it was neither of us." Paul reached across the table, taking Dawn's hand in his own, and absentmindedly tracing circles on it with his thumb.

"Is that why you asked me to come for breakfast?" Dawn asked, lifting her pastry with her free hand.

"Well, one of the reasons. I just think we should spend more time together if we're actually going to go through with this. I mean, I don't know you all that well."

"I'm an open book," Dawn said, with a light shrug of her shoulders. "You, on the other hand… well, I don't know anything about you, apart from stuff about when you were thirteen. And that was a long time ago."

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't want to be invasive. I know you're not the sort of person that opens up easily."

"Well, I can try. What do you want to know?" Paul reiterated, and Dawn stared at the table.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"What?"

"I said, what's your favourite colour? It's not that hard a question, Paul."

"It just caught me off guard. I was expecting deep questions. But, uh… I guess blue."

"Like the sky, or like… the sea?"

"More of a royal blue. What about yours?"

"I think you can guess. I mean, you've been inside my room."

"To be fair, the colours in your bedroom weren't really important to me," Paul chuckled at his comment, causing Dawn to flush. "But... pink?"

"You got it."

"Uh… what's your favourite food?"

"I don't know if it counts as a favourite, but I eat a lot of toast. What about you?"

"I think toast tells me that you're lazy more than anything else. I like fries. A lot."

"You never really struck me as a fries guy."

Paul smiled, and Dawn felt her heart melt. Here, outside Jubilife's most insignificant café, was the place where she decided she was actually in love with Paul Rebolledo.

* * *

 _._


	5. Reconcilliation

"Are you sure this one is a good idea? I mean, you can kinda see that I'm showing," Dawn said, staring at her reflection in the mirror and turning multiple times to see herself from different angles.

"It's nice! It really suits you, Dawn," Johanna chimed, but Dawn shook her head.

"I want to try something else. I'm not convinced." She turned on her heel and walked back into the changing room, where she stripped off the huge tulle dress recommended for her. There was another dress hanging up that she was somewhat reluctant to try on, but since it was getting late, and this was the last one, she decided to just bite the bullet and try it on. It was tight fitting, and the bottom had a train that sparkled when Dawn moved. There was diamantes adorning the bodice, and when she stepped out of the changing room, everyone left in the shop gasped.

"Dawn… you look beautiful," Johanna breathed, the words barely coming to her. An attendant rushed over to Dawn, throwing a veil on her head and a belt around her waist.

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked, inspecting herself in the mirror on the wall. It was definitely the best one she had tried on all day, and with the wedding in just over two weeks, she couldn't afford to be picky.

"Yes, Dawn. You look… well like a bride!"

"Alright… I'll get it!"

* * *

Wedding planning for Dawn was nowhere near as stressful as she imagined it would be. That may have been partly due to Paul refusing to let her do anything, but she knew (hoped) he had her best interests at heart. He did often mention not wanting to put stress on her because of the baby, but she always conveniently ignored him, and went about her daily life the best she could. Of course, they wouldn't let her do any modeling with Loppuny because there was no need for maternity models, but Dawn stubbornly turned up to the office at least three times a week, new sketches in hand.

Not having a lot to do was really taking its toll on Dawn, but not in a negative way. She had taken up a strange amount of hobbies, and attested this to the fact that she had no cravings at all. She had taken up cross-stitching, something she hadn't even heard of until her mom suggested it. She was cycling more than ever, and had bought a new bike, pink of course, for the occasion. The house was also coming down with cakes, bread and biscuits that she had made, but wouldn't eat any of. And to put in the few hours she had left in the day after all that was done, she trained her Pokémon in new combination styles that she had thought up in her boredom.

The worst part of pregnancy for Dawn was definitely being bored. Even though she had taken up all these new hobbies, she obviously couldn't do them all every day, so she got box sets, and sat down for hours at a time to watch these series from start to end. It was time consuming, but that was exactly what Dawn wanted.

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, halfway through Scream Queens, Paul rang, putting an end to Dawn euphoric day of watching people being murdered. She paused the TV, and picked up her Pokétch with a groan.

"Paul."

"Nice greeting," he sneered, and she rolled her eyes.

"What do you want? I'm busy."

"What show are you marathoning now?"

"That's none of your business," Dawn mumbled, glaring at the device on her wrist.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner? Reggie's cooking so I can promise healthy, properly cooked food."

"Are you implying that any food you make will be unhealthy and raw? I'm sorry Paul, but I'm not sure I can marry someone who can't cook."

"Whatever. Are you coming or not?"

"I guess. Can I wear anything?"

"Yeah. It's not formal at all."

"Cool," Dawn sighed. She was hoping to have got through all thirteen episodes by the end of the day, but with this dinner, she would have to watch tomorrow as well, thus throwing of her watching schedule. "What time do you want me over at?"

"Six. If that's okay."

"It's fine. I'll see you then," Dawn finished off, hanging up. Paul was such a _pain_. She would have to phone him some day when she knew he had the day off and invite him to dinner at her house, just to spite him. But she was kinder than that, so she wouldn't do it unless he was really annoying her.

* * *

Dawn got dressed at five o'clock, out of her pyjamas and into suitable dinner clothes. She was refusing to wear maternity clothes, but knew that she would have to take a trip to Hearthome soon and actually get some new clothes. For now, she put leggings on, and a loose t-shirt and big cardigan, hoping that she would be comfy in that for the inevitable few hours she would be stuck at Paul's dinner table. As much as she wanted to, she didn't dare put her slippers on, instead opting for comfy slip on trainers.

She hated the flight to Veilstone. She had to fly over Solaceon Town, which still made her wince every time she thought about her crippling defeat there. She also felt extremely close to the foggy reaches of Route 210, and as a rule of thumb always avoided flying that way. Of course, flying across the centre of the region was ten times quicker than flying along the coast and up from Pastoria City, so as she was in a rush, she couldn't complain too much.

Landing outside Paul and Reggie's house, Dawn returned Togekiss and wandered up the short driveway to knock on the door. It flew open within seconds, leading Dawn to suspect that Reggie had been waiting behind the door for some time.

"Come in, Dawn! We're all ready to eat, so please, head into the dining room!" He gestured somewhat aggressively to the second door Dawn could see, and she gratefully came inside, leaving her shoes at the door like Reggie and Paul had. Reggie opened the door for her, and then disappeared into the kitchen.

"Nice to see you made it," Paul sneered, causing Dawn's forehead to wrinkle.

"What's making you so mean? Arceus, I'm here, like you asked. It was short notice, so be glad I could even come at all," Shot back Dawn, glaring at her fiancé.

"I said to come at six. It's a quarter past. You're late."

"Whatever. Like I said, you should be glad I even came. And with your attitude, I'm starting to wish I didn't!"

"Oh, am I interrupting some sort of lover's quarrel?" Reggie chuckled as he entered the room, three plates of roast dinner expertly balanced along his arms. "Sorry it's not particularly fancy, Dawn. I tried my best!"

"It looks great. A lot more interesting than the instant noodles I would've been having at home?"

"Is that good for the baby?" Paul questioned, and when Dawn met his eyes, they were cold, and uncaring. His words were more of space filler than him genuinely caring about her.

"My mom's not home tonight," she explained.

"You could learn to cook for yourself. I mean, you're eighteen."

"And you're twenty one, but I can still see you sponging off your brother, can't I?"

"Don't bring Reggie into this," Paul said, shooting his brother a concerned look. Reggie had tuned out their conversation and was peacefully chewing on mashed potato.

"Look, can we just drop this? I don't even know why you're being so snappy today."

"Whatever."

The two didn't converse for the rest of the meal, Reggie interjecting pointless statements which either Dawn or Paul answered as necessary. He wanted to know all the details concerning the baby- when it was due, did she know the gender yet, had they thought of baby names.

"I like Elizabeth," Dawn suggested, setting her fork neatly over the middle of her plate.

"That's nice," Paul said, genuinely surprised. Dawn looked up to him with a huge smile on her face, glad that he was finally agreeing with her on something. He turned his head away quickly, looking at his brother instead of at her.

"And for a boy… maybe Jacob? I mean, Jacob is a cute name."

"Yeah, I guess. It's not bad."

"I think they both sound great! Well, obviously you're going to have to wait until the baby comes. It'll be hard, or impossible, to decide until then," Reggie said, collecting up the plates. "Well, I'm gonna wash these. You guys hang tight- I'll bring desert in a minute!"

He left the room, leaving Dawn and Paul opposite each other at the table. Neither trainer wanted to look at the other, instead staring out the window or at the table itself. Dawn tapped her nails on the table in a rhythmical pattern. Paul glared pointedly at her hand, and she stopped immediately, folding her hands gently on her lap in way of apology.

"You-"

"I-"

"No, go ahead," Dawn offered, letting Paul talk first.

"I'm sorry for being so… how did you put it, snappy?"

"That's the word," Dawn said softly, leaving a laugh on the end of her sentence.

"I've just… I've had a bad day. Week. Month," Paul excused, staring out the window instead of meeting her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it? I mean, sometimes I phone May, who's in Hoenn, just to vent. So… maybe you just need to vent?"

"I'm not like you. I can't just talk. We're complete opposites, Dawn, face it. You're an extrovert and I'm an introvert."

"Maybe… I don't know, maybe you could write it down? I mean, you could just leave it once you've done that, or burn it or something, or you could give it to someone to read."

"Maybe."

"Paul… well, I'm just putting this out there, so please don't get offended. We're getting married, right? And I'm not particularly keen on the idea- _your_ idea, may I remind you. But I know that we're going to have to trust each other, and care for each other, even if it's not what either of us particularly wants, okay? So even if you're not feeling up to it today, I hope that soon you can tell me what's on your mind." She offered him a smile, and she saw the corners of his eyes twitch for a moment, which was good enough for her.

"Let's go for a walk."

"What, now? What about desert?"

"I'll buy you an ice cream if you're that desperate for desert. Come on, let's go."

Dawn pulled her shoes on, and hurried out the front door. Paul yelled a rushed goodbye to Reggie, whom Dawn could hear complaining in the background, before Paul closed the door behind them. Luckily, Paul lived near the centre of the city, not far from the Veilstone Gym, which made it easy to get to the nicer part of town. Paul took her hand awkwardly, and Dawn had a rush of affection for him. She intertwined their fingers, and laughed when he wouldn't meet her eyes yet again.

They wandered to Paul's favourite ice cream shop, which surprised Dawn. For him to have a favourite anything made her laugh a little, let alone ice cream. He never struck her as an ice cream kind of guy, but apparently he was. He bought them ice creams- pistachio for him and honeycomb for her, before seating themselves at one of the tables situated outside the shop.

"I guess I can tell you about my stresses now, I just didn't want Reggie interfering. I haven't told him about it yet, so… well. Here goes." Paul took a deep breath before starting into his story.

"It's my dad. He keeps phoning me, asking to meet up with him. It's not even like it was once. I could've ignored that. But it's every other day, and then this week, it's been multiple times a day. I don't want to see him, before you suggest that. He's not a great person. He's so full of himself, and doesn't actually care about Reggie or me. I think he's just angry at us because mom isn't around any more."

"Where is she?" Dawn asked quietly.

"Arceus knows. She took off when I was twelve, the year before we moved to Sinnoh. I think that's part of what prompted Reggie to move everything to Sinnoh and 'start again', as he put it. It was a combination of that, me travelling in Johto and his loss to dad."

"His… loss? Wait, you said before, ages ago, that Reggie only lost to one trainer. You mean…"

"Yeah. Brandon's my dad. Battle Pyramid King Brandon, prime asshole who managed to fuck up my life, and Reggie's too."

"Oh, Paul. That must be…"

"Awful? I've suffered worse. I mean, I can ignore him, but I'm just… well, worried that he'll come to the league one day. It's obvious he knows where I am."

"Don't worry about him. It's not your fault, just remember that!"

"I don't know how you manage to stay so positive all the time, Dawn," Paul chuckled. "I swear, you're just like my brother."

"No need to worry, right?"

"Is this when I'm supposed to say, "that's when I worry the most"?"

"Exactly right!"

They enjoyed each other's company for a few more minutes before Dawn stood up, insisting that she had to go home.

"I did really enjoy today, Paul. I mean it."

"Uh. Yeah."

Dawn balanced on her tiptoes, kissing him gently on the lips, before retracting.

"Why did you do that?" Paul asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Well… I mean, isn't it obvious? Well, it's because…"

"Don't even. I… no. Sorry."

He turned sharply and left, leaving Dawn feeling dejected in front of the ice cream shop.

* * *

 _._


	6. Wedding

"Are you ready?" Johanna called from the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her daughter to finally appear.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Dawn called back, running down the stairs, shoes in hand. She flopped down on the bottom stair, pulling the strappy wedges onto her feet.

"You sound nervous. Is everything okay?"

"Mom, I'm about to marry a man that I'm not convinced loves me," Dawn sighed, standing up and grabbing her bouquet. "Of course I'm apprehensive. This is probably the hugest risk I've ever taken."

"Oh Dawn," Johanna said, wrapping her arms around her only child. "You'll be fine. Anyways, aren't you living separately until you find a place? You don't have to worry. Everything will be fine."

"I know," Dawn reminded herself, inhaling deeply. "We have a wedding to get to."

They squished into the car that Paul had rented, Dawn's dress taking up more room than her mother did. The driver smiled, starting the car and driving to Lake Valor. It was ultimately Dawn's decision on where the wedding would take please, and after much pleading she managed to get Paul on her side to book the Hotel Grand Lake. It wasn't as if money was a problem for either of them, and she knew that her moaning and complaining over Paul's 'great idea' of having it at the Pokémon League would be worth it in the end.

The car pulled up in front of the main hotel, and the remaining guests scampered inside the church at the sight of the two shocks of blue hair in the back seat of the car. Dawn got out carefully, making sure the layers of tulle in her dress were sitting correctly. After she was finally satisfied, she linked arms with her mother, keeping her bouquet professionally positioned over her stomach, hiding what little of the baby bump was visible.

The wooden doors opened, and Dawn walked down the aisle. She had always dreamed of this moment, but the reality was a lot different from what she imagined. Paul stood at the altar, ready to greet her. His white suit happily complimented her own dress, and he just about managed a smile in her direction. She stood beside him, with her mom on her left. Dawn managed a quick look around before the priest started talking, noticing that May and Zoey had weaseled their way into the front row of Dawn's side.

* * *

The whole wedding was fake, and everyone who was there could tell. Dawn mumbled her way through her vows, and even though Paul said his clearly, they weren't at all sincere. Dawn caught a look of Zoey during the middle of the ceremony, and she was biting her lip with her arms crossed. She was just glad that there wasn't many people here- if there was anything else, she would've just wished for the ground to open up under her and for her to disappear forever.

The kiss was the highlight of the wedding for everyone. It was the only thing that _didn't_ look fake, whether that be because they were well practiced or because they actually meant it. Paul took her hand after, and they left the room. He practically pulled her up to the 'bridal suite', where she sat down on the bed, head in hands, and he paced the room.

"That was awful," he commented, stopping in front of the mirror.

"And whose fault is that?" Dawn shot back.

"Not mine. You barely even talked."

"Paul… it's really hard to say all that stuff if you're not convinced that the person who you're marrying even loves you at all! You're so… uncaring. It's hard to tell if you actually give a shit about me or not!"

"Is that what this about?" Paul roared, making Dawn shrink backwards. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I… it's hard. I've never…"

"You've never?" Dawn prompted, folding her hands together and forcing the tears back in her eyes.

"I've never loved anyone aside from my family," Paul admitted, and Dawn moved a little, sitting up straighter. He sat down beside her, placing a hand over her own. "So I… I don't know if I'm actually in love with you or not."

"You said you did. Before, when you proposed to me."

"I didn't. I might have implied it, but…"

"I guess… let me know though. Please. Do you love me?"

"I… I think so," Paul admitted.

"That's good enough for me," Dawn said, the tears that were threatening to spill over her cheeks that last five minutes finally doing so. "We should probably go."

She wiped the tears from her eyes, and dried her cheeks. Paul pulled her up from the bed, wrapping one of his arms around her in a mildly affectionate way. She stifled a laugh, leaning into his body the best she could without falling over. They wandered downstairs, and he dropped his arm in favour of holding her hand. She intertwined their fingers, and he glanced down at her. She was smiling at the guests, offering her free hand for them to shake. Much to his surprise, her friends and family came to him as well, shaking his hand, and forcing him to drop hers. They smiled at him and awkwardly hugged him and honestly he never felt more awkward in his life.

They sat down to dinner, and Paul was thankful they chose not to have bridesmaids and groomsmen. Johanna sat on Dawn's left, and Reggie sat on his right. They ate almost in silence, the mindless babble of their guests filling what would've been an otherwise awkward meal.

"That was nice," Paul said, taking the hand of hers that was closest to him and squeezing it gently.

"Mhm," Dawn said, leaning gently against him. The reception was smaller than the ceremony itself, so most of the people they had been wavering on inviting, such as League members, had left.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"You already apologised. And I accepted your apology."

"I can't repeat myself enough."

"You can- to the point where it becomes annoying." She squeezed his hand gently, not meeting his eye.

"I suppose we have to dance tonight, do we?" He sighed, rising from his seat.

"That is generally an accepted wedding tradition, yes," she replied, standing beside him. A lot of their guests had already gone through to the bar at their request, leaving them to be that last to arrive. The wandered through, fingers intertwined, and took up their position on the dance floor. Neither Dawn nor Paul could look at the other in the face, he staring down at the top of her head and she staring at the buttons on his waistcoat jacket. There were many awws from the crowd, and Dawn could feel herself flushing a bright red. She released Paul as soon as the song ended, allowing her friends to gather her up in some sort of convoluted group hug.

* * *

The dancing and partying lasted than Dawn could usually manage, and by the time she had said goodbye to everyone, she could barely stand. Paul wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulders and helped her upstairs, to the room they were forced to share together. Dawn grabbed her bag from the corner, pulling out pyjamas and a toothbrush. She turned her back to Paul, who up until now was standing motionless in the corner, not sure what to do.

"Can you unzip me?" She asked pulling her hair around her shoulder.

"Can I… what?"

"Unzip the dress, Paul. Honestly, that wasn't a difficult request."

"But…"

"Please. Come on, it's not like we've never seen each other naked before. And besides, I'm wearing underwear."

"We were drunk then," Paul pointed out in a mumble, but crossed the room to do as she asked. He pulled the zip down, his fingers lingering on her skin for a second to long.

"Paul," Dawn warned, and he jumped back.

"I'm going to get changed too, then."

Dawn pulled on her Piplup pyjamas and brushed her teeth, before making an effort to pull all of the sparkling clips from her hair. She wished she counted them while putting them in, because she knew that she would lie on one in the middle of the night and make a dent in her skin. Finally satisfied with herself, she went back into the bedroom, flopping down on one side of the bed and covering herself with the duvet.

"Is it okay if…" Paul said, making awkward gestures towards the bed.

"Where else are you going to sleep?" Dawn pointed out, and he got in beside her, moving around until he got comfortable.

"Goodnight," he said, rolling over to face away from her.

"Goodnight." She reached over to the bedside lamp, flicking the switch so the room was plunged into darkness.

* * *

They woke up as a tangle of limbs, having moved closer to each other in the middle of the night. Light streamed through the window, causing Dawn's eyes to ease open and blink in the unusually bright light. It took her a moment to figure out where she was, and the pounding in her head didn't help. When she realised that she was all cuddled up with Paul, her head immediately went to 'oh no, not again', but then she clocked the wedding dress on the door and the fact that they were both fully clothed, and suddenly the pieces fitted together once again. She scrambled away from him, causing him to stir in his sleep.

"I didn't mean to wake you," she apologised, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"It's fine. That really happened, then?"

"I guess so," Dawn said, tangling her fingers together to distract herself from the pain in her head.

"You need to sort out your hair," he said, before promptly getting up and going into the bathroom.

She threw her legs over the side of the bed, reaching for the compact mirror she had left in her bag. He was right- she looked awful. Her makeup was streaked across her face (evidently, she forgot to take it off before going to bed), and each strand of hair seemed to be sitting at ninety degrees. Sighing deeply, she took her straighteners from her bag, plugging them into the wall. Back in the day, she would've got Piplup to fix her hair for her, but when they were inside with electricity, straighteners were the quicker, easier option. Paul emerged from the bathroom, running a hand through his hair and looking slightly less tired. She scampered in once he was out of the way, attacking her skin with a makeup wipe and applying foundation to cover up anything that wouldn't come off. With a flick of mascara on her eyelashes, she deemed herself good to go, and went back to fix her hair.

Paul was still getting changed when she reentered the room, and it took most of her willpower not to stare at him. They were married now, and it would be weird if she spent all her time admiring him. Instead, she lifted her straighteners, making herself look as presentable as she could. Dressing herself in jeans and a light jumper, she stood up, ready to go downstairs.

"What's the plan?" Paul asked, finishing fixing his own hair into a ponytail. She was surprised to see that he actually did something with it, but decided against commenting on it.

"Breakfast, then we come back here and pack up before leaving, okay?"

"Fine."

They went downstairs, sitting quietly while munching their way through cereal and toast. It was almost mundane, but the fancy setting of the hotel made it somewhat special. Dawn decided to go pack up early, leaving Paul to finish his coffee. She could tell by now that if he was interrupted in his coffee drinking he would be in a bad mood all day, so she left him be to do so. As she tidied and cleaned up, she felt a sudden burst of pain from her stomach. She grabbed onto the end of the bed to steady herself, placing one hand on her stomach tentatively. The pain came again, and this time, she could feel something. The baby was kicking. She smiled to herself, happy that the child was most definitely there and most definitely alive. Paul burst into the room, and catching one sight of her bent over in pain, rushed to her side.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine. The baby just kicked!" She said, trying and failing to contain her excitement.

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

"That's… that's amazing!" He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her for a moment, before embracing her tightly.

"Yeah, okay, that's enough!"

"Sorry. It's just… well, this is all really happening."

"You'd be right there," Dawn said, staring down at the band on her left hand.

"You don't have regrets, do you?"

"I think it's a bit late for regrets, Paul."

* * *

 _._


	7. Houses

Married life didn't quite start out the way Dawn had planned. Maybe that was her fault for having extremely high standards all her life, or maybe it was Paul's fault for getting her pregnant. Either way, she had imagined being whisked home after the wedding to a cosy house where she and her husband would spend the rest of their lives. She would have children, and she would have a good job, and everything would be _good_.

Needless to say, that wasn't what happened. She and Paul went their own ways for a few weeks, he to work, and her to doctor's appointments and prenatal classes and baby shopping. She had forked out most of her money on a cot and baby clothes and a pram, and was left with the realisation that they needed to buy a house. So, Dawn pulled out her laptop, searching for vacant homes in Sinnoh. She was hoping to find somewhere on the east coast, near the league, but after a week of searching to no avail she was forced to move in land a bit.

After two weeks of house hunting and preliminary viewing with Johanna, Dawn had it narrowed down to three places. The first was a high-rise apartment in Sunyshore that was very fancy albeit very expensive. It looked over the sea, and Dawn could just picture herself sat by the window, staring out over the waves below. The second was in Pastoria City, and although the marshy ground was something that bothered her, it was cheap, and cute, and good value for money. The third house was less than ideal, but for the money, Dawn had convinced herself that she could live with it. It was in the Resort Area, miles away from her family and friends, but in the most beautiful area she could've imagined. The house itself was not beautiful by anyone's standards. It was run down, and falling in on itself, but it was less than half the price of the one in Sunyshore, and she knew that Paul would probably go for that one.

"Hey."

"Hi, Dawn. How's it going?"

"Good! I've been looking for houses."

"Shit. I was supposed to be helping you with that, wasn't I?"

"Yes," Dawn sighed, "but don't worry. I've narrowed the list down to three in the entire region that I like, and I emailed them to you earlier. I was hoping that if you were free this weekend, we could go look at them? I mean, only if you're not busy!"

"I'm free. And I'm supposed to make time for you, aren't I? I mean, we're married- oh, shut up, Flint!" Dawn could hear masculine laughter in the background, and rolled her eyes in response.

"Great. I'll meet you in Pastoria City at one, then. I can show you where they are, since I already went and visited them myself."

"You're organized."

"For once. I swear, this has been the only thing I've been able to get my head around recently."

"Baby brain?" Paul chuckled, and Dawn glared at her phone, aware that he wouldn't be able to see her facial expression.

"Shut up. Anyway, I'll see you on Saturday!"

"Cool. I'll phone you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye."

There was no I love you, no I miss you, no stay safe, but Dawn wouldn't've wanted it any other way. He didn't need to say it in such explicit terms, but Dawn trusted that he meant it with every word he said.

* * *

Saturday morning flew in, and Dawn packed her stuff for the weekend. A spare change of clothes was tossed into the bottom, along with her toothbrush and the print outs of the houses they were going to look at.

"I'm spending the weekend at Paul's," she explained on her way out the door.

"You don't need to tell me when you're staying at his. If you don't come home, I'm just going to assume you're over there. I mean, you're married now!" Johanna exclaimed, and Dawn shook her head.

"I'll see you Monday."

Togekiss took off into the sky; Dawn perched on her back, holding onto her feathers. Pastoria City wasn't too far away, and Dawn commanded Togekiss to fly low over the sea so she could scrape her nails over the waves, creating a low spray. She had been making an effort to take moments like these, and do something fun, knowing that she wouldn't be able to have these moments when the baby arrived.

She landed in Pastoria City, outside the Pokémon Centre, where Paul was already waiting for her. He immediately took her hand, causing Dawn to smile. He was getting the hang of the whole romance thing, and Dawn didn't doubt that there was a part of him that genuinely cared about her, whether that be love or responsibility or something else entirely.

"So, where's this house?"

"Not too far. It's right beside the gym, as a matter of fact. I thought that might appeal to you."

"I don't really want to be living beside where people that work for me work."

"Oh. Well."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. You'll still look at it, right?"

"Yeah."

They were quiet for the next few minutes, until they reached the house. It wasn't spectacular by any means, just a quaint house with a small garden and a garage.

"Neither of us drive cars," Paul pointed out.

"Well, you don't have to use the garage."

Dawn knocked on the door, and it was opened by a friendly looking man in a suit.

"Ah! Dawn and Paul! Everyone's favourite couple! Come in." Dawn stepped over the threshold of the house, eliciting an eye roll from Paul. If the fact that the house was next door to Pastoria Gym wasn't enough of an annoyance, the estate agent's overly cheerful demeanor certainly was.

"Give it a chance," Dawn encouraged, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

They were shown around the house- kitchen, bathroom, living room, master bedroom, spare bedrooms, and Paul's facial expression didn't change once. Dawn was half tempted to kick him in the shins, but tried to remain professional as the man showed them out into the garden.

"So, what did you think? I think it's wonderful, personally. Close to the city centre, and to the gym! It's perfect for a young couple such as yourselves."

"We'll have a think about it, right Paul? We've got another few houses to look at today, so we'll get back to you in the future."

They were politely shown out the door, Paul grumbling under his breath as they did so.

"We'll have a think about it," he huffed after they were out of earshot.

"You can think and decide no, Paul. These people want to sell, but they can't force you into a purchase."

"And did you see the price of it? It was expensive! You're not making money at the minute, and I don't have that money to be throwing around!"

"Mortgages exist for a reason, Paul," Dawn pointed out calmly, tossing Togekiss's Pokéball into the air.

"I suppose."

They could've easily walked to Sunyshore, but Paul insisted that Dawn rested, so she complied with his wishes, flying into the city centre, right where the apartment was.

"Here you go," Dawn said, gesturing up at the building above her.

"Is that it?"

"Well, one floor of it."

Dawn dragged him inside, this time with a lot less protesting from Paul. Clearly the location of the building wasn't as bad as in Pastoria, and Dawn could tell he had some sort of fascination with this modern building. They were shown around, and Dawn had to keep pulling Paul through the rooms as he got distracted by the fancy high tech parts and hidden cupboards.

"This is probably one of the nicest homes in all of Sinnoh, and I can see you fitting in just perfectly here," the estate agent told them, pressing a clipboard to her chest and staring both of them right in the eye.

"We'll think about it," Dawn interjected; before Paul could say that they would take it. "We have more properties to look at before we make a final decision."

"Alright. Please keep in touch!"

"Will do!"

Dawn had to drag Paul from the building by the arm, all while he protested that it was the nicest home he had ever set foot in. She called out Togekiss and hovered above him for a moment before he took the hint and decided to move on.

"I didn't like the look of the last one, by the way."

"Neither did I, but I liked the price. It was less than half of the one in Pastoria, and I'm pretty sure we could convince them to let it go for less."

"We'd have to spend a lot of money to do it up."

"But think, we could spend the money to do it up the way we want it, or we could spend the money on a house that's not really to either of our styles."

"You drive a hard bargain, Dawn."

Dawn jumped off Togekiss before she even landed, excited to see the house. The Resort Area was tiny, with less than twenty buildings in it. There was a large hotel taking up most of the village, and villas dotted around it and the small lakes that made up the rest of the area. Most of the buildings were white and clean and perfect, except for one, forgotten at the end of the row.

"That'll be our building, then," Paul said, rolling his eyes. They waited for twenty minutes, but no one showed up to show them around. "Surely that's not a good sign?"

"Don't be so negative! We can look around ourselves." Dawn had pushed the door open before Paul had a chance to protest, and had walked inside.

Despite the buildings dreary and negative exterior, the inside of the house seemed to be in fairly good condition, and Dawn was beside herself with excitement at the size of it. The living room was long and wide, with rooms coming off it. The bedrooms were near the front of the villa, and the kitchen and bathroom were at the back. There was a backdoor that led out into a garden, and Dawn couldn't help but squeal when she saw what was in it.

"There's a pool!"

"Brilliant. Can we go? I mean, this house is gross. I don't want to live here. And you literally broke into it, which can't leave us in good stead for buying it."

"But it's nice! We can do it up! It'll be perfect!"

"Dawn, seriously. This isn't a good idea."

"I said that about getting married, but we did that anyway," Dawn challenged, causing something to snap in Paul's head.

"Don't go blaming this on me!"

"I'm not blaming anyone on anything! I'm just saying, I compromised with the wedding thing, so maybe you can compromise with the house! I purposefully picked ones near where you work so it's easy for you! Don't forget, I work in Jubilife and Hearthome, so it would be so much easier for me to live in Oreburgh or somewhere! All you've done is complain all day, Paul, and I'm not convinced you actually want to move in with me!"

Dawn stopped ranting for long enough to look up at Paul, who's face was a mixture of concern and anger, but the part of him that was worried at her outburst seemed to win, and he came towards her slowly, embracing her tightly and placing a kiss on top of her head.

"I'm sorry. We can live here if you really want, but you need to bring some of your artistic talent to it. It's kinda… dead, y'know?"

"I know. I'm sorry for yelling," Dawn mumbled burying her head further into his chest.

"Why don't we go to my house now, and we can phone someone on Monday about buying this place?"

"That would be nice."

* * *

 _._


	8. Decoration

"You're doing it wrong," Paul pointed out, taking the paintbrush from Dawn's hand.

"Well if you're so knowledgeable do it yourself!"

Paul had already painted the kitchen and bathroom while Dawn was out shopping for furniture, and now she had returned, he wasn't impressed with her technique.

"Go put the kettle and stuff out in the kitchen. I'll handle the painting."

"Fire. It's not my fault I've never painted a wall in my life," Dawn mumbled, heading towards the kitchen where she'd left the items she'd picked up earlier.

The toaster, kettle and microwave were taken out of their boxes and plugged into the wall, and the fridge was cleaned and filled with food. Dawn picked out cupboards for certain things- pasta and rice were beside the oven, cleaning products were under the sink, and cereals were beside the fridge. She set all the mugs, plates and bowls into another cupboard, and put a bread bin on the counter. She stepped back and admired her handiwork, just as Paul entered the kitchen, roller still in his hand.

"Looks good."

"Thanks. I often think I could be an interior designer."

"You plugged some things in and set a bread bin down. I don't think that really counts as interior design."

"I also picked most of the colours for the house, thank you very much!"

"It's mostly different shades of white."

"Stop complaining! Anyway, since you seem to be done with the living room, you can do our room."

" _Our_ room?"

"Yes, Paul. We're not sleeping in different rooms, thank you very much. We are married after all. Anyway, my mum is dropping off the bed from our spare room- since no one ever stayed over anyway- at four, so we have an hour and a half to paint that room and hope that the living room paint dries."

"And what are you going to do?" Paul asked, leaning against the wall.

"Organise the living room! Get the TV sorted and stuff. Arrange the sofas."

"Fine. What colour are we painting it, magnolia?"

"Ducklett egg blue, actually."

Dawn swanned past him, forcing him to also leave the kitchen and head into the bedroom down the living room slightly. Dawn called out Loppuny and Typhlosion (which had recently evolved, much to her surprise), and together the three moved the sofas to her desired position. She then moved the TV onto its stand, and wired it into the wall. She plugged lamps in, and hung a painting on the wall that was painted yesterday. She then sat on the sofa, resting from the (not very) hard work.

"Slacking off already?"

"I literally just sat down. And look, this room is pretty much done!"

"Cool. Well, Johanna will be here in ten minutes, so I'll put the kettle on."

"I'll help!"

"You don't need to."

"You don't know where the mugs are."

"I'm sure I could find them."

"Just let me _help_ , Paul. No bad will come of it, okay?"

"Whatever."

Dawn followed Paul into the kitchen; lifting three mugs from the cupboard she had put them in earlier. He took the milk from the fridge and flicked the kettle on after filling it with water, and she took the coffee jar from the cupboard. The mugs were filled almost instantly, and as if on cue, the door knocked.

"I'll get it," Dawn offered, and padded out of the room, leaving Paul with the coffees.

Dawn opened the door to her mother and once again let Typhlosion and Loppuny out to help move the disassembled bed from the car.

"You _drove_ all the way out here?" Dawn asked, taking Johanna's coat and placing it on one of the hooks beside the door.

"Well, I drove to Sunyshore and got the ferry, so near enough. Did you know they started a ferry service from there a few years back? I thought that was interesting."

"Do you want me to show you around?" Dawn asked, hastily changing the subject from what was about to be a very boring conversation about public transport in Sinnoh.

"Sure!"

The tour was short and sweet, with the lack of anything interesting to show. Dawn opened and closed doors, and Johanna 'ooh'ed at nearly everything, offering comments of support and advice on how to make it nicer.

"Have you not got a table?"

"Reggie's bringing it up at some point. It's his gift to us, apparently."

"That's good! All houses need a dining table, its one of the most important pieces of furniture!"

"Anyway, there's one more room to see. It's not done yet, but…" Dawn said, leading her through another door into a smaller room that was almost empty apart from a bag of tiny clothes on the floor. "This is going to be the nursery! I'm wanting to do it yellow, but Paul wants it to be green or orange, so I think we'll just have to wait and see for this one."

"It'll be beautiful," Johanna breathed, and Dawn could tell that she was tearing up.

"Mum! There's nothing even in this room yet and you're crying!"

"You and Paul are going to be such great parents, Dawn. I'm so happy for you!"

"Alright, calm down. I think Paul made coffee, so why don't you come sit down and have something to drink?"

* * *

Dawn fell back onto the bed after putting the blankets down. She probably could've lay there for the rest of the evening; after all, redecorating an entire house while pregnant was tiring work. However, Paul had other ideas, and came into the room with a disapproving look on his face.

"Why are you lying down? There's still a lot of stuff for us to do."

"I know, but unlike you, I'm pregnant, and that takes a lot of my energy up on it's own."

"Oh. I didn't think of that," Paul muttered, turning his head to the door.

"It's fine. I'll be okay to work again tomorrow, I just need to rest, okay?"

"Sure. Sorry for pushing you."

He walked over to the bed and perched on the other side from Dawn. She sat up straight, and leaned gently against him. He tentatively wrapped an arm around her, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, before Dawn shifted to make herself more comfortable and spoke up again.

"Paul… do you really think this will work?" She asked, not looking him in the eye.

"What do you mean?"

"We got married after two months of knowing each other properly. We'd barely talked for eight years, apart from… well, you know," she mumbled, cheeks dusted with pink. "Part of me isn't convinced that we'll last all that long. I've heard of this sort of thing happening to people before and it never ends well."

"What are you talking about? I'm gonna pull my own weight, so as long as you pull yours, we can make this work," Paul said, resting his head against hers and talking into her hair.

"Okay… okay. Sorry for doubting. This is just all so surreal, y'know?"

"I know. But I do care about you and this baby, so, so much, and don't forget that'" Paul whispered, causing the tears that were welling up in Dawn's eyes to spill over and run down her cheeks in silvery chains.

"I won't."

* * *

Dawn woke up under the covers, with one of Paul's arms lazily flung over the top. If she didn't know that had happened in his sleep, she would've thought it was done on purpose. Smiling to herself at the idea, she squirmed out from under his grasp and out of bed, padding through to the kitchen. Paul had always been a late sleeper, but she knew he had to go to the league today, as the Lily of the Valley conference was rapidly approaching and there were still many details still to iron out. Dawn made him a cup of coffee and set it on his bedside, before giving him a quick shake awake.

"Paul," she hissed, "get up! You have to go to work today!"

"Go away."

"No! Seriously, get up!"

"I am, I am."

"Well, there's coffee on your beside cabinet. Don't be late, okay?"

She left the room in confidence, hoping that the notion of coffee would wake him properly. Within ten minutes, he was fully dressed and had joined Dawn on the sofa in the living room, coffee mug in hand.

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you too!" The TV finally turned on, and Dawn immediately switched to coverage of yesterday's contest in Chocovine Town.

"You seem very… awake," Paul commented, earning a smile from Dawn.

"Well, I'm a morning person, unlike you."

"Whatever. I have to go soon. What are you gong to do today?"

"Very direct, aren't you? I was going to paint the nursery and build the cot."

"Are you sure you can manage that?"

"Paul, I build the TV stand and both bedside cabinets. I'll be _fine_."

"I guess."

"Have fun at work!" Dawn said, following Paul to the door.

"It'll be great."

Dawn leaned up and kissed him on the lips before quickly taking a step back.

"See you later," he offered, ruffling her already messy hair.

* * *

 _AN: Apologies for the late update, I've been pretty sick and not feeling up to writing recently, which is also why this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. Hope you enjoy though, and happy christmas to those who celebrate it! c: -pachi_


	9. Finals

"You know, we never did figure out who told Coordinators Weekly about the baby," Dawn pointed out one evening in front of the TV.

"Does it matter? I mean, we were gonna tell everyone soon anyway."

"Yeah, but that's not the point. I wanted to do something cute!"

"Whatever. It happened, and there's no changing that," Paul huffed, changing the channel to Sinnoh News Network. "There's not long until the baby arrives anyway, so there's 'no need to worry', as you would put it."

"Only a month to go! I'm not really looking forward to it, but at least I won't have to carry this about anymore," Dawn claimed, gesturing at her stomach dramatically.

"You just have to carry the actual baby about."

"Well, at least you can do that sometimes too," Dawn laughed, poking him n the ribs with her elbow.

"Or we could just use a pram," Paul deadpanned, turning his attention back to the TV.

"You're so lazy!"

* * *

"Are you coming today?" Paul called through the door.

"Yes! Why else would I be getting dressed so early in the morning? And besides, I have to wish you luck!"

The Lily of the Valley conference had come and gone, and a promising young trainer by the name of Amber stormed through the competition and defeated all of the Elite Four in her week of battles.

"She's the first girl to win the conference in a long time," Paul pointed out, still talking through the door to Dawn. "And the first person since me to defeat all the Elite Four. I reckon she'll give me a run for my money."

"You'll be fine," Dawn said nonchalantly, opening the door while still running a brush through her hair. "You've been training so hard, so if you lose it'll be a shock to everyone. But I know you won't."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. That's more than I can say for many of the Elite Four members."

"Really? Let me guess, Flint?"

"Lucian and Bertha. I haven't talked to Aaron in a while, so I don't know what he thinks, but I think Flint's okay."

"I'm surprised, honestly," Dawn said, tucking a strand of Paul's hair behind his ear absently. "They always seemed so supportive. But anyway, we should get going."

"I've got you a good seat, near the champion's box. I asked if you could sit in there since I won't be, but they said no."

"It's fine. I've sat all over arenas and had the exact same view every time, so it doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure? I'm sure if I begged-"

Dawn shut him up with a kiss, causing Paul to freeze. His hand went to her back to steady her, and she snaked her arms around his neck. She broke off after a minute, smiling brightly despite the blush on her cheeks.

"Good luck today. You'll be great."

* * *

Dawn's seat was good, as she said it would be. She had received three texts from Paul since sitting down, all of which she replied to with some form of avoiding the question and telling him good luck. With the fourth text with in ten minutes, she called him, telling his bluntly that he needed to calm down.

"Do you need me to come and see you? Are you sure you're okay?"

"No. No, I'm fine. Overreacting."

"You sound stressed," Dawn pointed out. "There's another thirty minutes to go before your match, I can come and see you-"

"Please do. If you go don the stairs nearest you, my dressing room is third on the right."

"I'll be there in a minute."

"Thank you."

He sounded almost desperate, Dawn thought as she hung up the phone. She picked up her bag and slid the reserved sign back onto the seat. The arena was quickly filling up, despite it being half an hour before the match. The opposite side of the arena was clearly where the supporters of Paul's opposition were sitting, with their large banners and flags in reds and oranges to show their support for Amber, the young trainer.

Dawn walked down the steps, wincing slightly at the pain the occasionally shot through her abdomen. She knew exactly why it was happening, but that didn't make the pain any less bad. She had to cling for dear life onto the railing beside her so she didn't fall over, but she eventually got to the bottom without too much effort. Carefully counting the doors on her way, she found Paul's dressing room and gave it a short knock. The door opened immediately, causing Dawn to wonder if he had been waiting behind it for her the entire time. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the room, where he collapsed onto the sofa.

"I can't do this," he admitted.

"Can't do what? Battle? That's all you do, Paul! That's what you're good at!"

"But that's just it. I'm 'good', Not excellent, or amazing, not a prodigy, which is what I've heard Amber called."

"Paul, which one of you is the champion?"

Silence.

"Exactly. You're stronger than her, and even if you do lose, it won't be a big deal! You're practically guaranteed to get a job as soon as you leave. Cynthia was offered a job in the Johto region researching the Ruins there!"

"That's nothing to do with it. Cynthia had talents outside of battling. I don't, and I don't want to do anything else," Paul sighed, somehow sinking further into the sofa.

"Well then, make sure you win," Dawn said simply.

"You make it sound so easy."

"For you, it is. Just win. You'll be fine."

"Okay," Paul said, taking a deep breath. "Okay. You're right. I was panicking."

"Don't forget, we're a team now. And there's no need to worry!" She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "You'll be great. I love you," she reminded, causing a smile to ghost across his lips.

"Thank you, Dawn." He pulled Dawn in close to him, wrapping his arms around her back and planting a kiss against her forehead.

"You're gonna do great. I'll see you when it's over."

She pulled herself away from him, smiling softly as she left the room. She could hear him sigh as she closed the door behind her, but decided to ignore it and return to her seat. He would be fine, just as she had promised.

* * *

"Welcome one, welcome all! Today is an exciting day! We have the finals of the Lily of the Valley conference, between the winner Amber and our current champion Paul!" The announcer yelled, and the crowd on all sides of Dawn yelled in response. "We're sure to have an exciting battle on our hands, coming up in just five minutes time. But first, we're going to scan the arena and look for famous faces!"

Dawn's own face paled at the thought of this. She wasn't famous, not exactly, but after a pretty successful coordinating career and being married to Paul, her face had made enough appearances on recent periodicals for the announcers to notice her. She knew she wouldn't be the only 'celebrity' to be noticed, which put her mind at ease somewhat. She watched the TV screen in fear as they zoomed towards the champion's box, where the Elite Four presided in their seats.

"And here we have Cynthia, our beloved former champion! Nice of you to drop by, ma'am!" She gave a polite wave, her lopsided smile concealing what Dawn could easily pick up on as awkwardness.

"And over here at the west side of our arena we've spotted a _very_ famous guest from Hoenn, the one and only Steven Stone! Give it up for this champion and geologist! We know all you ladies love him!" The crowd went wild for him, and Dawn found herself involuntarily rolling her eyes.

'Who's this? At the north end? We saw that eye roll, Miss Berlitz, you don't get away with anything!" A camera suddenly zoomed towards Dawn, and she froze, before giving an apologetic wave. "Yes, it's Dawn our favourite coordinator and the lucky girl who married our current champion! And soon, of course, to have a baby with him! We wish you all the best!" She gave another meek wave, before wishing that the plastic seat she was sitting on would swallow her up.

"We've also spotted; very sneaky this one, but we can see her, Elesa, from Unova, gym leader and model! We're sure that she'll be bombarded with requests for autographs now, but we wish you all the best today, ma'am!"

The cheering from the fans eventually subsided into a mumble of anticipation, and all eyes fell onto the battlefield, where the sliding doors at opposite ends of the field opened to revealed both battlers.

"On the left, we have our challenger, Amber from Floaroma Town!" Dawn clapped politely, following the lead of the others around her.

"And on the right, we have out current champion, Paul!" Dawn clapped a lot louder for him, despite the strange looks from the people sitting beside her. Of course she was going to clap louder for him- they were married, after all.

The referee called out the rules, and then the two trainers sent out their Pokémon; Ninjask for Paul and Flareon for Amber. Dawn could easily see him flinch at the fire type, and Dawn thought that this was maybe another good moment to wish him good luck.

* * *

"I won."

"That you did. I told you, but you didn't believe me."

"I'm sorry. You were right."

"I was. And you were great out there. I'm honestly surprised you did as well as you did. You had me worried from the way you were talking before."

"I was panicking," Paul admitted, smiling towards his knees. "And I really think you helped me calm down."

"That's why I came to see you, idiot. But you did fine on your own."

"I heard they put you up on their screen."

"Don't remind me about that. Anyway, I think we should go home. You look exhausted."

"I am pretty tired."

"Then let's go," Dawn said, taking his hand and pulling him up. "Well done, again."

* * *

As Dawn made dinner (albeit reluctantly), Paul watched and analysed his match. He picked holes in every move he made, and even critiqued his opponents moves and strategies.

"I really did look like I was about to faint," he called into the kitchen, making Dawn leave the oven to lean against the doorjamb.

"This is true. But we all understand why. I mean, it was your first official match as champion, and there were a lot of important people watching. Cynthia was there and all!"

"I saw. I'm surprised she didn't come down and speak to me, but maybe she didn't get the chance."

"She'll maybe phone, or something. I'm sure she'll want to talk to you. She did mentor you for a while, after all."

"I know. Is the food nearly ready?" Paul asked changing the subject completely.

"It'll be done in a moment," Dawn laughed. "Put something more interesting on. I don't want to be rewatching your battle a million times when I saw it for myself."

* * *

Nightfall came quickly, along with a phone call. Paul lunged for the phone first, partially convinced whoever would be phoning would want to talk to him.

"Hello? Oh, it's you." He held the phone out for Dawn. "It's Zoey," he said, rolling his eyes. She leaned across and took the phone, kicking him in the shins at the same time.

"Dawn?" Zoey asked as soon as Dawn had put the phone to her ear.

"Yes?"

"You know the way you were in Coordinators Weekly a couple months back?"

"Yes… where is this going?"

"I think Candice might have been the one who told them."

"What?"

"Well, she mentioned earlier that she knew about your pregnancy, and because I hadn't told her, and I know she pays no attention to gossip magazines, I just assumed that she must've been eavesdropping that day you came over."

"So… you just put two and two together and came up with Candice?"

"Uh… pretty much."

"Brilliant logic there, Zoey. But… yeah. I can get Paul to ask if you don't want to," Dawn said, glancing round at Paul, who glared back.

"That would be good. I don't want to make things awkward between us."

"I'll tell him now. You just relax, Zoey. Everything will be okay."

"Thanks for understanding, Dawn. I'll see you soon!"

"Bye!"

Dawn handed the phone back to Paul, who set it back on the receiver.

"I'm not doing any favours for Zoey."

"It's not a favour for Zoey; it's a favour for me. She reckons Candice was the one that told Coordinators Weekly about me being pregnant."

"What?"

"You heard me. And well… because you're technically her boss, I thought you could maybe talk to her."

"I'll fire her."

"Don't do that. Just… don't over react. No need to worry!"

* * *

 _._


	10. Cynthia

Everything was quiet in the Rebolledo/Berlitz household. Paul was making dinner in the kitchen, and Dawn decided to check up on her emails to see if she was expected to do anything for work. Although she wasn't going into work anymore, she was still submitting designs to the company in the hope of some of her work being made. There was the usual junk cluttering up her inbox- promotions from companies she'd bought from once or twice, social media notifications. But right at the top of the page was one from a Raoul Contesta.

 _Dear Dawn,_ it read

 _I would firstly like to congratulate you on the news of your marriage and pregnancy. I'm sure the contest world will be glad to have another prospective coordinator from the Berlitz family! However, I am emailing for another reason entirely. We are currently hoping to extend the reach of Pokémon contests across the sea to the Kalos region, and as such, we are moving a large percentage of our staff over there. Coincidentally, we will not have some of our main staff members available in Sinnoh. Since this will all begin at the start of the next coordinating season, I am emailing to ask if you would be interested in filling the position of main MC as Marian has chosen to represent us in Kalos. I will completely understand if you do not wish to take this offer up, and want to wish you the best with your baby._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Raoul Contesta_

"Paul!" Dawn called, and waited for him to come in from the kitchen.

"What?"

"Can you read this? I'm not sure I read it right."

"What- fine." He scanned the email for a moment before looking back to Dawn. "It says you're being offered a job as MC for contests in Sinnoh," he said simply, before returning to the kitchen.

Dawn stared at the laptop screen in shock. There was no way that she was being offered a job. No way… but her name was on the email, and it did mention her recent wedding and soon to arrive baby. But being an MC? That wasn't something she had ever imagined happening in her life until now. She had left the contest world to go into the fashion industry, and for so long she had told herself she belonged in fashion and not in the contest world. She had won the Ribbon Cup, and there wasn't much point in coordinating more. She was done, she was tired, but then… this happened. Was she ready to go back to the world of contests?

She shut the laptop quickly, setting it as far away from herself as she could.

* * *

A phone call came one Saturday afternoon, making Dawn jump out of her skin. She instinctively reached out to pick it up, scared that it Mr. Contesta phoning because she hadn't responded to the email yet.

"H-hello?"

"Ah, Dawn, hello," a soft female voice said, causing Dawn to relax. "It's Cynthia. Could you put Paul on the phone for me, please?"

"Sure!" She leaned across the sofa towards him, covering the microphone with her palm. "It's Cynthia, for you." Paul's face paled, but he hesitantly took the handset from Dawn.

"Hello, Cynthia," Paul started, and Dawn had to cover her face with a pillow to suppress the laughter that Paul's phone voice caused.

They talked for only a few minutes, and Dawn distinctly heard Paul give Cynthia their address, and immediately sat up straight. As Paul set the phone down, Dawn stood up slowly, making an attempt to straighten cushions and cleaning coffee cups. Paul tidied the ever-growing pile of shoes by the door (mainly Dawn's) and closed doors to other rooms.

"Stop panicking," he said, causing Dawn to stop in her tracks.

"What? Who said I was panicking?"

"I did. Calm down, she's just coming for tea."

"I know, but I still want the house to look good. She's the former champion!"

"And I'm the current champion, but you don't seem to mind leaving your mess around me," Paul quipped, causing Dawn to flush.

"Yeah, but…"

"I was joking." Paul grabbed Dawn's wrist, pulling her towards him and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "It'll be fine."

* * *

Paul and Cynthia sat down at the table, Dawn busying herself by making cups of tea. She couldn't hear much through the walls, but anything she did catch was quiet and tense. She worried for Paul- he seemed genuinely scared of Cynthia any time she'd come up in conversation, and now she was seated at their table. There was a lull in the conversation, and Dawn decided this was probably a good time to enter with the tea. She set the cups shakily onto the table in front of Paul and Cynthia, and scuttled away into the bedroom.

"Why don't you join us?" She heard a voice say as her hand fell onto the door handle. She turned slowly, placing the voice as Cynthia's.

"A-are you sure?" Dawn asks uncertainly, her hand slipping from the handle.

"Of course. I would love to talk more with you Dawn. It's been what, seven years since we've had a full conversation?"

Dawn padded uncertainly across the room, pulling up one of the spare chairs Reggie had donated. She sat down slowly, tying her fingers in knots to keep her distracted from the fear she felt. Paul and Cynthia continued their conversation over her, but Dawn wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention, instead distracting herself by trying to count the days until the baby was due. She came to the conclusion that it was only ten or so days, and that was provided the baby didn't decide to come early. She paled visibly at the thought, and Cynthia spotted this.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked, a well-practiced look of concern carefully painted across her face.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine!" Dawn said, waving her hands frantically in front of her face. Paul quirked an eyebrow, and Dawn turned away quickly.

"I don't know if you could hear from the kitchen, but I was just congratulating Paul on his battle yesterday."

"Ah, yes! He did great," Dawn offered, flashing him a smile.

"He did. As one of his first public battles as Champion, I have to say he did exceptionally. I don't think even I did that well!" She joked, but Paul wasn't laughing. Dawn could feel the tension in the room, and evidently Cynthia could as well, as she stretched slightly before getting to her feet. "I should be getting home. I was just dropping by, anyway. It was so nice to see you both again." Dawn got shakily to her feet, earning a look of concern from Paul, which she shook her head at.

"It was lovely to see you too, Cynthia! You should, um, drop by some other time!" She was well versed in pretending to be confident from her time as a coordinator, and that skill hadn't disappeared even after all these years.

"Yeah, you can come round any time. There'll be a baby soon though, so you might want to factor that in before making any visits," Paul suggested, and Cynthia laughed.

"Well, as I don't have any children of my own, I'll be sure to come and visit this little one at some point!" She gestured towards Dawn's stomach, causing Dawn to retract into herself a little.

Paul followed Cynthia to the door and waved her off. As soon as he shut the door, he leaned against it, letting out a deep breath Dawn didn't know he was holding. He slowly wandered over to the sofa, flinging himself onto it and switching the TV on. Dawn joined him, placing her hand gently on top of his. She opened her mouth to speak, but his words came out before hers.

"I'm so glad she's gone. That woman scares me so much," he breathed, resting his head on the back of the sofa.

"Really? You seemed calm to me. You're a good actor, at least."

"I was more concerned that you seemed like you were about to have a panic attack before she arrived to concentrate on what she was saying, She was just offering me more useful advice anyway, so it wasn't too important."

"Well, she scares me too. I guess that's something we have in common."

"We have more in common than you originally thought, clearly," Paul said, wrapping an arm around her to pull her closer to him. She rested her head against his chest, ignoring the pain that was coming from her abdomen. The baby had been kicking a lot recently, and Dawn was starting suspect it was getting bored of waiting.

* * *

Dawn turned in early that night, and Paul joined her soon after. There was no way she was sleeping- there was too much weighing on her mind. With the email from Mr. Contesta, the visit from Cynthia and the baby due soon, she was a bag of nerves, and Paul was clearly aware of this. Even though he wasn't always that perceptive of emotions, he had picked up signs from Dawn in the last few months when she wasn't feeling the best.

"What's up?" He asked casually, putting a bookmark between the pages of his training methods book.

"Hm? Oh, nothing."

"You're lying."

"What? I'm not! I swear."

"Okay, but you've been unusually quiet all evening. Tell me."

"I keep thinking about the MC job. I'm still not sure if I want to take it."

"You're saying you still haven't replied to Mr. Contesta?"

"…yeah. I don't know what to do, so I'm just pretending it's not happening."

"That's not the best idea. If you don't reply, he may offer the job to someone else, and then you might regret it," Paul pointed out, opening his book again.

"You're right. I guess… well, I can take it, and then see what happens. If I hate it, I can obviously quit, right?"

"Right."

"Okay. Okay!" Dawn picked her phone off the bedside cabinet, opening her mail and finding the email from Mr. Contesta. Hitting reply, she composed a response.

 _Dear Mr. Contesta,_

 _I apologise for not getting back to you sooner, as I'm sure you can understand I've been very busy as of late. Thank you very much for considering me for the job. I am honoured that you would pick someone like me, who left the coordinating world a time ago. If the job as MC is still available, I would be very happy to accept it. I will drop by your office in the next few weeks if you wish to talk with me- I'm pretty sure I will be out of action soon with the baby on it's way any time now. Thank you once again,_

 _Dawn Berlitz_

She hit send before she could change her mind, tossing her phone carelessly back onto the bedside cabinet.

"Done," she announced, sliding further down under the covers.

"Anything else on your mind?" She considered telling him that she thought the baby would be arriving soon, but elected not to, as she assumed it would send him into a panic.

"Nope."

* * *

Dawn didn't get out of bed the next morning. She was exhausted, and by the time she woke up, Paul had already left, and it was well past midday. It was cold though, so she reluctantly hauled herself out of bed, putting her feet into her slippers as she went. She padded into the kitchen, turning the heating on, and flicking on the kettle while she was at it. Her back was sore that day, and she rubbed the base of her spine, clicking her neck in an attempt to become more comfortable.

Before the kettle finished boiling, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen that felt not dissimilar to the baby's kick. It went away after a few seconds and was replaced with a dull pain that didn't subside.

Dawn panicked slightly. She ran (walked quickly) into the living room, and lifted the phone, dialing her mother's number.

"Hello?"

"The baby's coming!"

* * *

 _._


	11. Catharsis

She was eighteen and he was twenty-one when it happened.

They were married now, and lived happily in the Resort Area, away from the trouble of the cities on the mainland. Of course, this presented one very awkward problem when the time came for Dawn to have her baby- there were no hospitals in the area.

"What do you mean? Are you sure?" A panicked Johanna asked.

"Yes mother, I'm sure the baby is on its way."

"Alright. Can you get yourself to the mainland? If you get to Sunyshore I can pick you up and take you to their hospital."

"I should be okay. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Since there are no hospitals in the Battle Zone, it's the only option. Make sure you've got everything with you!"

Johanna hung up before Dawn could even get another word in. She set the receiver down, hurrying into her room despite the pain to pack a bag. As it was last minute, she couldn't bring everything she had originally intended to, filling an empty canvas bag with the stuff she had already bought for the baby. Throwing on sweatpants and a hoodie, another wave of pain hit her. She left the house as soon as she possibly could, calling out Togekiss.

"Sunyshore City!" The Jubilee Pokémon chirped in response, and flew into the sky, quicker than she ever had before. The Pokémon could clearly sense it's trainer's panic, and responded accordingly. Dawn fished her phone out of her pocket, calling Paul.

"Hello? This is the Pokémon League of Sinnoh's reception desk, how may I help you?" She'd called the wrong number. Dawn cursed her bad luck, before managing to compose herself to have a civilized conversation with the woman.

"Can you put me through to Paul please? It's an emergency."

"I'm sorry, I'm not authorized to put any calls through to the Champion," she apologized and Dawn rolled her eyes.

"He would authorize this call, I promise-"

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules!"

"Can you at least tell him to phone me?"

"Certainly. Can I ask who this is?"

"His wife!"

Dawn hung up the phone as soon as the words came out of her mouth, feeling guilty for having phoned the wrong number and then yelling at the receptionist. Luckily for her and Togekiss, the clouds were high in the sky today, allowing them to fly over the sea and be able to see Sunyshore without too much of a problem. Dawn held her phone tightly in her hand, waiting desperately for a call from Paul.

* * *

"Excuse me, Paul?"

"Come in." The receptionist slid the door open and stood in front of the desk, a worried and almost pained expression on her face. "Sonya. Is everything okay?"

"I just got off the phone with someone who was very angry and rude looking for you."

"What did they want?" Paul sighed, rolling his eyes. "If they're looking for a battle with me, you can tell them no."

"They asked me to ask you to phone them. It was… a miss Dawn Berlitz, sir." A wave of panic washed over Paul. If she needed to talk to him she usually would text or call his mobile, but never before had she called the front desk. Lifting his phone, he saw three unread messages from Dawn, all three of which read "call me!".

"Thanks. I'll phone her now." Sonya turned to leave, but Paul held her back. "Wait while I take this call. I have a feeling I may need to clock out early."

"It's twelve thirty, sir. This is extremely early. I don't think the Elite would like it if you abandoned them five hours early."

"Just wait, okay?" He scrolled through the contacts on his phone until he found Dawn's (which she had personalized with a heart emoji), pressing the call button beside her name.

"Finally, I've been waiting for you to call for ages," the annoyed voice of Dawn came.

"What's wrong, why are you phoning?"

"Well, I just thought you'd maybe like to take a trip to the Sunyshore hospital. The baby's coming, and I would rather like you there!" Dawn explained cheerily, until another contraction came and she hissed in pain.

"Where are you now?" Paul asked, pressing various buttons on his computer to turn it off.

"In my mum's car. She's driving me."

"Okay, good. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"You better get here quick."

"Stay safe, okay?"

"Don't you worry, I'll be fine," she muttered, and then she had hung up. Paul stood up, lifting his jacket and taking a Pokéball off his belt.

"I'm leaving," he announced, and Sonya looked disgusted.

"You can't! The Elite-"

"I'll be a father in less than an hour, and I want to be there for Dawn when she has the baby, okay?" He shot her a rather angry look before storming past her and running down the many flights of stairs into the reception.

"Honchkrow!" Paul called, the bird appearing from his Pokéball. "Take me to Sunyshore City!"

* * *

Paul ran through the city, avoiding cars and bouncing on his toes at traffic lights. The hospital was in the city centre, but as he had never been there, it took him a while to find. Eventually he found the building- all concrete and windows, and slid into reception looking dazed, panicked and sweaty.

"Mr. Rebolledo," A receptionist called, beckoning him over. "We've been made aware of your situation. If you go up to the third floor, I believe a nurse is waiting for you there."

"Okay," Paul said, still trying to catch his breath. He lightly jogged over to the lift, getting in with a man with a broken leg, and a girl clutching a Happiny cushion to her chest that looked at him in awe. They got off at the second floor, leaving Paul to stay in the lift that extra, painstaking thirty seconds. He got out of the lift, and Paul was immediately grabbed by a nurse.

"Mr. Rebolledo, please come this way." It sounded so serious, and Paul couldn't help but panic. The nurse consulted his clipboard, and then turned back to Paul. "There have been some complications with Miss Berlitz's delivery, so she has been taken in for an emergency C-section. This is a very routine procedure, and takes place in a lot of women each year. She should be fine." Paul paled. He was right- Dawn wasn't okay. "You may join Mrs. Berlitz here to wait for her to come out of the operating room." The nurse took the clipboard and left down the corridor, leaving Paul to wait with Johanna.

"She's going to be alright, you know?" Johanna reassured him.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, the doctors all seem certain. And she said 'no need to worry', which means she'll be fine." She was so casual about this, and Paul couldn't understand how she could be so calm at a time like this.

He started pacing, rubbing his eyes and desperately checking his phone as a way of distracting himself from reality. There was already a breaking news story that Dawn had gone into labour- he assumed Sonya was responsible for this getting out.

"I didn't actually think you'd go through with it, Paul. The wedding, the house. Everything. I didn't think you actually loved her," Johanna admitted. "Of course, I let her go through with it because she seemed to genuinely love you, but I wasn't sure her feelings were reciprocated. But seeing you now, so panicked like this… I'm sure you do actually love her. There's no way a person that didn't care could look so worried." Paul turned to Johanna, who had a steady stream of tears running down her face.

"I do love Dawn. Maybe not at first, but now, definitely. I couldn't imagine a world without her, and we're going to raise this child properly. She's gonna be okay, I promise." Paul knew he couldn't promise anything, and that the only thing he was capable of doing was waiting. But Dawn was a fighter- there's no way she would leave that room in any state apart from alive and kicking.

The red light on the door flicked off, signifying the surgery was over. Both Paul and Johanna's attention turned to the door, waiting for Dawn's bed to be wheeled out of the room. It was, and they followed it down into the ward. She was lying, completely conscious, holding a small, wriggling mass in her arms.

"You missed it," she noted, glaring at Paul.

"I got here as quickly as I could," he explained, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed. He moved the blanket slightly, staring at the baby cradled in Dawn's arms.

"It's a girl, by the way," she said, staring fondly at the baby. Johanna looked on from the other side of the bed, a tear falling onto her already damp cheeks.

"Can I hold her?" Paul asked, almost hesitantly. He wasn't completely convinced Dawn would let him take the baby, but she stretched out her arms, and he took her, nursing the baby close to his chest.

It was magical. The baby wiggled slightly, and Paul moved his arms, making himself more comfortable on the bed. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and stared up at Paul, not fully able to see him. Her eyes were a light blue, and when she blinked, Paul felt pride swelling in chest and tears springing to his eyes. They started to fall down his cheeks, and he wiped his face furiously with his sleeve.

"Are you… crying?" Dawn asked, leaving towards him the best she could.

"I'm just emotional about… this," he excused, gesturing to the baby balanced in his arms.

"That's no reason to cry, Paul," Dawn said softly. "I should be the one crying- I'm the one who had her stomach cut open."

"What are we going to call her?"

"I don't know. We'll decide sometime soon. It's not urgent."

"I guess," Paul sighed, reluctantly handing the baby back to Dawn. "You did great."

* * *

Dawn was allowed home from hospital two days later, and as soon as she carried the baby over the threshold of the house, Paul started crying. He had officially started his paternity leave from the League, who had suspended all business until he returned in two weeks.

"Will you _stop_ crying? It's all you've done for two days."

"I'm just happy."

"I really didn't think you'd cry when this happened. In fact…" She stared at the baby, not wanting to make eye contact with Paul. "Part of me even doubted that you'd still be here."

"Your mother said the same thing," Paul said, setting Dawn's bag down. "Am I really that untrustworthy?"

"Clearly, we thought you were. But you've proved your worth!" She said, elbowing him in the arm.

The couple brought the baby into their newly made nursery, and Dawn placed her gently in the middle of the cot. She looked so peaceful and quiet, and they couldn't help but stop and stare at her for a moment.

"Felicity," Dawn said suddenly, snapping her head up to look at Paul.

"What?"

"For the name. It means happiness, and since you cried so much, I thought it fitted."

"Yeah… yeah, it works. I like it. Felicity…" Paul repeated in a whisper, not taking his eyes of the small person lying in the middle of the cot.

As much as he felt embarrassed for crying in front of everyone he knew, Paul was content. Both Dawn and the newly named Felicity had made it put alive and well, and he couldn't be more thankful for that. Wrapping an arm around Dawn and kissing the top of her head, he supposed he could get used to this cushy and cute life he had always said he hated.

* * *

 _AN:_ _It's done, and I'm kinda upset? Anyway, moving on to new things starting next week or the week after! It'll be a contestshipping fanfiction entitled "of ribbons and roses" and I hope you all come back to read that! Thank you for reading this to the end! c: - pachi_


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